For all the advances of modern science, experts haven’t come up with a way to provide rain for pastoralists when they need it.

‘As such, PRIME helps farmers with livestock become more resilient to shocks. It also supports better management of existing water resources through more efficient rain harvesting techniques, better early warning systems and information sharing, and improved governance of communal lands and water spots. By improving linkages in the livestock value chain, PRIME also helps ensure profitable outlets for livestock sales when there is not enough feed available to support existing herd sizes.

Pastoralists account for 95 percent of Ethiopia’s $220 million worth of meat and livestock exports. . . .

Community Animal Health Workers
‘In the 1970s, Ethiopia was in the midst of a severe shortage of qualified community-based health workers, which made follow-up and control of disease outbreaks difficult. Since then, several NGOs and development partners, including USAID, have supported the expansion of these service providers. Over the years, community animal health workers have significantly improved animal health in areas where professional providers are thinly spread. These workers have provided valuable services to pastoralists, including: curative treatments using antibiotics and injectable drugs, vaccination campaigns, deworming for internal parasitism treatments, spraying for external parasitism treatments, minor surgical treatments, dehorning and castration. . . .

‘“Even in the most complex environments, if market systems are supported to overcome key bottlenecks, private sector actors will respond to opportunities and incentives to bring transformative changes to the market systems that work for the poor and vulnerable households in pastoralist areas of Ethiopia,” said USAID/Ethiopia Mission Director Dennis Weller.

PRIME was designed to help pastoral communities achieve viable and sustainable livelihoods and contribute to the overall growth and transformation of Ethiopia through Feed the Future and climate change adaptation facilities.—Dennis Weller

Read the whole article (it’s part of a series on the meaning of ‘resilience’); it’s written by Yenew Berhan and Fekadu Wolde, staff of a project on ‘Pastoralist Areas Resilience Improvement through Market Expansion’ (PRIME), which is  funded by the Unites States Agency for International Development (USAID) in Ethiopia. Find it on Medium: Healthy animals for resilient households, 14 Jan 2016.