Empowering pastoralists to achieve change

Integrated Pastoralist Project, South Omo

Pastoralist areas like South Omo have some of the highest rates of poverty and lowest human development indices in Ethiopia. They are remote and difficult to live in, with little or no infrastructure in the form of roads, schools, hospitals and other essential services. Most pastoralists are nomadic herders who predominantly rely on breeding and selling livestock for their income. Poor animal health services and decreasing access to grazing land make this traditional way of life increasingly difficult to sustain. Recurring droughts lead to conflicts with others over water and grazing.

During the years that FARM-Africa has been helping pastoralists in Ethiopia, we have been building a model of good-practice for pastoralist development. Our Integrated Pastoralist Project is further developing this model, and at the same time reaching more people by working with a range of culturally diverse groups in South Omo. FARM-Africa is supporting the Hamer, Dassenach and Nyangaton ethnic groups to lift themselves out of poverty and build more secure futures.

How are communities benefiting?

Community Development Committees are identifying local development needs and gaining access to the money, information and training they need to implement solutions.

• Communities are improving their ability to respond effectively to natural disasters such as droughts. An early warning system for droughts will trigger a more prompt and effective response by the government and NGOs. Communities also have the training and finance they need to operate a fund at a local level to respond to emergencies highlighted by the warning system.
• Improved access to clean, safe water. With our training, community members are learning how to identify water sources and dig and protect shallow wells.
• Pastoralists are learning how to deal with invasive plant species that reduce their pasture land.
• We're training and equipping a network of Community Animal Health Workers (CAHWs) who offer a simple veterinary service to surrounding villages. Individuals can earn money by working as a CAHW and the community benefits from improved animal health, which in turn often leads to increased milk production.
• With our support, groups are setting up credit and loans co-operatives that help communities set up sustainable projects, such as small-scale irrigation or building a new clinic.
• A network of Community Based Legal Advisers (CBLAs) is being developed. Thanks to our training, women are providing information to others on women's rights as well as other issues affecting pastoralists such as land rights.
• We're using the project to further develop a model of good-practice to share with local governments and other NGOs.  This will mean that many more communities can benefit from our learning and adopt the new practices.

Who are we helping?

The project is benefiting 3,700 households totalling 15,500 people across 9 villages in South Omo.

Project partners

FARM-Africa is working together with the Pastoralist Forum for Ethiopia; the Ethiopian Pastoralist Research and Development Association; and Pastoral Risk Management.

Empowering pastoralists to achieve change

Integrated Pastoralist Project, South Omo

Much of FARM-Africa's work with pastoralist communities in South Omo is based upon the successes of our Ethiopian Pastoralist Project which ran for three years in Afar and South Omo, Ethiopia.

A key problem for many pastoralists is an absence of an affordable, local animal healthcare system. Without basic veterinary care livestock are often in poor health meaning that they don't produce much nutritious milk and fetch a poor price at market. As part of the project local community members are trained and equipped to provide this essential service to their neighbours in surrounding villages.

Aden's story

Aden, his five children and seven nieces and nephews live together in the community of Gewane. Like many others in his community, Aden relied on his few animals to earn money to buy food. But drought, disease and falling livestock prices were making survival a battle. The family were frequently forced to depend on food aid.

Aden's community was also suffering. The recurring drought meant animals gave meagre amounts of milk; the main diet of the community. With no health service available for livestock, community members were trying to treat animal disease themselves. They were wasting their precious money on drugs bought from an illegal market. Using the wrong drugs or wrong dosages meant the sick animals died anyway.

All this changed when Aden was selected to receive Community Animal Health Worker (CAHW) training from FARM-Africa. Now Aden earns a living by providing a veterinary treatment service for community members and running the CAHW co-operative's drug store. With the money he earns, Aden is able to buy things like food, household utensils, clothes and shoes. He can pay for medical treatment for his large family, and buy essential school books for the primary-aged children.

Aden's work as a CAHW is benefiting many people in the community as well. Some 95 households in the area trust Aden to care for their 24,000 animals. Thanks to Aden, there has been a marked decrease in animal deaths from disease. Animals are healthier, which means livestock keepers in the area are now making a decent living. They are better able to feed their families with nutritious milk, and the money they raise by selling animal products and livestock offspring can go towards essentials like medicine and clothing.

As word of the CAHW spreads, people are travelling long distances to access Aden's expertise. Aden is so busy he has asked FARM-Africa to train a further two CAHWs to work in the area.

Best Practices

Community Managed Disaster Risk Reduction
Adobe PDF - 5.03mb

Working Papers

14. Scaling-up Success - FARM-Africa\'s new strategy for development
Adobe PDF - 444kb

Web Links

CAHNET resources website