Campaign launched to help pastoralists

A major campaign has been launched to tackle the growing threat to the existence of Ethiopia’s seven million pastoralists. The World Bank announced a US $30 million grant under a scheme approved on Thursday aimed at fighting their deepening vulnerability. It is the first phase of a 15-year project. Pastoralist organisations welcomed the announcement and said it constitutes the biggest ever development programme for pastoralists in the country. “This is a very challenging project," Doudi Tari Abukula, from the Pastoral Community Initiative (PCI), told IRIN. “We just hope that the theory and development will work on the ground because there are a lot of good issues included in this project that have not been tried before.” Among the key elements is a far-reaching decentralisation plan whereby pastoralists will get a voice in how the money is spent on micro-projects in their communities. Pastoralists - nomads whose livelihoods depend on their livestock – are one of the most marginalised groups in Ethiopia, inhabiting inhospitable lowland areas. They have little access to health and education, transport facilities are almost non-existent and land has been severely degraded through overuse. The Bank said that the increasing frequency of severe droughts in Ethiopia, the booming population and livestock growth had threatened the existence of pastoralists. The project aims to boost their strength in local governance and improve livestock, agriculture, water supply, small-scale irrigation, healthcare, education, and rangeland management. Pastoralists live mainly in Afar, northeastern Ethiopia, Somali Region in the southeast and the border regions with Kenya. They inhabit an area of land totalling around 500,000 sq km – almost half the entire area of Ethiopia. The 15-year project, which is headed by the ministry of federal affairs, will also receive US $20 million from the International Finance Fund for Agricultural Development.