USAID: Ethiopia FY 2002 Congressional Budget Justification

PROGRAM: ETHIOPIA
TITLE AND NUMBER: Improved Livelihoods for Pastoralists and Agro-Pastoralists in Southern Ethiopia, 663-012
STATUS: New
PLANNED FY 2001 OBLIGATION AND FUNDING SOURCE: $400,000 CSD, $1,100,000 DA
PROPOSED FY 2002 OBLIGATION AND FUNDING SOURCE: $650,000 CSD, $750,000 DA
INITIAL OBLIGATION: FY 2001 ESTIMATED COMPLETION DATE: FY 2006

Summary: The pastoral (livestock-herding) areas of southern Ethiopia are among the least developed parts of the country. Infrastructure is poorly developed, with vast areas where there are no roads, schools, health facilities or telecommunication services. Levels of absolute poverty are high. Pastoralist households are often forced to survive on external food aid for several months of the year, and over 51% of children under 5 years of age are stunted. Difficulty of access to natural resources and cross-border trade exacerbate the potential for conflict among the clans in these areas.

USAID, the Government and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have joined in a Southern Tier Initiative to promote sustainable development in this drought-affected area. USAID will lay the foundation for long-term development in southern Ethiopia through successful, integrated small-scale pilot interventions. In FY 2001, Development Assistance (DA) funds ($600,000 Agriculture) will finance pilot activities supporting animal health, a livestock market price information and dissemination system, and the development of livestock cooperatives. The major focus of this Special Objective (SpO) is to increase incomes of pastoralist families. It is seen as the first step in helping them address other problems associated with poverty, including food insecurity, limited access to health and education services, and environmental degradation.

This SpO encompasses all sectors of USAID's portfolio in Ethiopia. The FY 2001 funding request consists of several components as follows: A pastoralist risk management program will reduce the damage of overgrazing to rangelands ($200,000 Environment). Child Survival and Diseases (CSD) funds will implement activities to increase access to appropriate basic education ($200,000 Basic Education). CSD resources will also strengthen prevention of sexually transmitted diseases and HIV ($100,000 HIV/AIDS) and improve the diet of pastoralists and agro-pastoralists ($100,000 Child Survival). DA funds in the amount of $300,000 (Population) will support reproductive health activities. Beneficiaries will be the people of targeted districts in southern Ethiopia, with the potential to assist pastoralists in a far wider belt from Uganda to Somalia.

Agreements under this notification will incorporate clauses that implement the President's recent directive reinstating the Mexico City Policy.

Key Results: Pastoralist livelihoods will be improved as a result of interventions to increase household income, improve access to health services and basic education, and reduce conflict. Over time, poverty, food insecurity, and conflict will be reduced as a result of these interventions. By FY 2006, malnutrition rates for children under five will drop by 20% and household incomes will increase through community banking, savings and credit cooperatives, and micro-finance institutions. Fifty percent more livestock will be vaccinated and treated for disease, and markets in which to sell livestock will also stimulate economic growth. Gross enrollment of children in basic education will increase to 20% in the target areas of the Somali region and 25% in the target areas of the Oromia region.

Performance and Prospects: Pilot development efforts in the Southern Tier (southern Ethiopia) have been implemented in recent years under SO 1, Increased Availability of Selected Domestically Produced Food Grain Crops, in an effort to reverse the downward spiral of increasing poverty and food insecurity and escalating conflict faced by selected communities along the southern Ethiopian border. The pilot efforts were grounded in a thorough problem analysis based on existing research and a joint assessment with the national and regional governments. Prospects for future performance are good, based on strong central and regional government support and lessons learned in these pilot efforts. In addition, the increased potential to reduce the need for humanitarian assistance among pastoralists and agro-pastoralists that reside in Ethiopia's southern border areas will be a very positive result of this effort.

During the past year selected pilot activities supporting animal health, risk management and conflict resolution have performed exceptionally well. USAID is implementing an animal health activity in the Somali Region. Local authorities, with the assistance of a US NGO, have established a Vet Scout Association responsible for coordinating and improving livestock health care in the area. The Association trains Community Animal Health Workers (CAHWs) and provides administrative support. Twenty-one trained CAHWs are now operating in their communities; they have vaccinated 460,993 animals and treated 23,343 for disease. CAHWs offer services for a small fee and have found livestock owners willing and able to pay for their services, even in low-income areas. The CAHWs can generate sufficient income to provide for their own needs, thereby making animal health care available for pastoralists on a sustainable basis. DA funds will finance on-going CAHW training.

A pilot project has also been implemented to improve the ability of local formal and traditional leaders to mitigate disputes and reduce social tensions through the art of negotiation. This structured process gathers information, identifies social stresses and convenes meetings among local leaders to improve cooperation and reinforce the roles of local leaders.

USAID is presently supporting the Ethiopian Livestock Marketing authority to design a livestock market price information and dissemination system. The initial focus of the DA-funded livestock-market information system is the Southern Tier area, eventually with expansion to a national system. In addition, USAID is supporting efforts by the Oromia regional government and a US NGO to expand cooperative development activities to the pastoral areas. DA funds will finance on-going development and support capacity building to strengthen the livestock cooperative model.

An USAID-funded pastoral risk management project (PARIMA) is working with local communities to improve access to savings and credit institutions. PARIMA research has shown that pastoralists in southern Ethiopia and northern Kenya have lost over $1 billion in livestock wealth due to drought-related mortality over the past 20 years. This, combined with poor marketing infrastructure and lack of rural financial services, illustrates the negative effect of the traditional tendency to keep livestock as long as possible during a drought. The ultimate goal of this activity is to capture wealth otherwise lost in livestock deaths and convert it into investment capital for locally identified development projects, while reducing the impact of overgrazing on the fragile environment. The strategy promotes more timely livestock sales in combination with options to save and re-invest sale proceeds in anticipation of, rather than merely in reaction to, crisis. Savings can be re-invested in options such as improved animal health capacity, rehabilitation of range resources, small-scale business enterprises, regional trading, urban property, and developing human capital in terms of health and primary education.

This Special Objective will use Child Survival and Diseases funds to increase access to basic education appropriate to pastoralists, to implement activities to strengthen prevention of sexually transmitted diseases and HIV, and to improve the diet of pastoralists and agro-pastoralists and families. DA Population funds will be used to support mobile clinics and facility-based family planning/reproductive health services.

Improving the livelihood of pastoralists in the southern tier area is critical and requires sustained multi-year funding. The harsh environment, combined with ineffective social and political coordination, frequently results in conflict over control of available resources. The FY 2002 request consists of DA ($750,000) and CSD ($650,000) resources that will fund technical assistance to aid the development of livestock marketing associations, appropriate agricultural methods and alternative forms of comprehensive risk management and train community animal-health workers. USAID will support maternal health; child survival and nutrition interventions; and affordable, appropriate teacher support system and curriculum.

Possible Adjustments to Plans: Broader East African regional activities managed from Nairobi will complement USAID's Southern Tier Initiative to address pastoralist problems and solutions across northern Kenya, eastern Uganda and southern Somalia. Adjustments may need to be made to take advantage of synergies that will arise from this coordinated effort.

Other Donor Programs: Germany, the World Bank, Austria, Canada, and the British have all indicated interest in pastoralist programs in the area. USAID's Regional Economic Development Services Office (REDSO/ESA) and the Africa Regional Office of USAID's Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance (ARO/OFDA), both located in Nairobi, are critical partners both in the implementation of the Special Objective and in developing REDSO's proposed pastoralist program.

Principal Contractors, Grantees or Agencies: The Special Objective will be implemented by Global Livestock Collaborative Support Research Project (GL-CRSP)-Outreach Component, Save the Children-U.S., Volunteers in Overseas Cooperative Assistance, and several local indigenous NGOs.

Selected Performance Measures: This is a new Special Objective. Performance measures are to be developed as the new program is implemented.

U.S. Financing

(In thousands of dollars)

	Obligations		Expenditures		Unliquidated
Through September 30, 1999	0	DA	0	DA	0	DA
	0	CSD	0	CSD	0	CSD
	0	ESF	0	ESF	0	ESF
	0	SEED	0	SEED	0	SEED
	0	FSA	0	FSA	0	FSA
	0	DFA	0	DFA	0	DFA
Fiscal Year 2000	0	DA	0	DA
	0	CSD	0	CSD
	0	ESF	0	ESF
	0	SEED	0	SEED
	0	FSA	0	FSA
	0	DFA	0	DFA
Through September 30, 2000	0	DA	0	DA	0	DA
	0	CSD	0	CSD	0	CSD
	0	ESF	0	ESF	0	ESF
	0	SEED	0	SEED	0	SEED
	0	FSA	0	FSA	0	FSA
	0	DFA	0	DFA	0	DFA
Prior Year Unobligated Funds	0	DA
	0	CSD
	0	ESF
	0	SEED
	0	FSA
	0	DFA
Planned Fiscal Year 2001 NOA	1,100	DA
	400	CSD
	0	ESF
	0	SEED
	0	FSA
	0	DFA
Total Planned Fiscal Year 2001	1,100	DA
	400	CSD
	0	ESF
	0	SEED
	0	FSA
	0	DFA
			Future Obligations		Est. Total Cost
Proposed Fiscal Year 2002 NOA	750	DA	3,250	DA	5,100	DA
	650	CSD	1,650	CSD	2,700	CSD
	0	ESF	0	ESF	0	ESF
	0	SEED	0	SEED	0	SEED
	0	FSA	0	FSA	0	FSA
	0	DFA	0	DFA	0	DFA

ETHIOPIA

Activity Data Sheet

U.S. Financing