Ethiopia is about to complete one of the largest and most successful seed distribution campaigns in the country’s history, aimed at helping farmers to stay on their feet in the face of a blistering drought caused by El Nino, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said on Friday.
More than 32,000 tones of seed have been distributed to around 1.7 million food and nutrition insecure households across six regions by the government, FAO, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and other humanitarian agencies, according to a statement issued by the organization.
It said FAO has coordinated the massive campaign in close collaboration with the government, noting that, these joint efforts have enhanced preparations for the critical summer Meher planting season, from which an estimated 85 percent of Ethiopia’s food supply is derived.
To date, FAO has directly distributed close to 4,000 tones of seed to 168 000 households, while an estimated 78,000 hectares have been cultivated and will likely yield close to 170,000 tones of crops.
“With an estimated average of one tone of crops per household per annum, or about 0.2 tones per person, the beneficiary families may now be able to meet their minimum food requirements for at least eight to ten months,” it said.
The El Nino-induced drought resulted in two failed planting seasons in 2015 in heavily agriculture-dependent Ethiopia, decimating household seed supplies across the country and severely compromising national food security.
The drought also led to 10.2 million people requiring emergency food and livelihoods assistance at the start of 2016. It is now estimated that around 9.7 million Ethiopians still require assistance.
A recent FAO assessment concluded that the emergency seed distribution operation will have a significant positive impact on the 2016/17 harvest.
Mr. Amadou Allahoury, FAO Representative in Ethiopia, said: “Projections are that Ethiopia’s 2016/17 harvest will be average to above average – a massive achievement coming on the heels of one of the worst droughts in recent memory, and both the government and humanitarian agencies moved quickly to assist communities impacted by the drought crisis, an effort we are proud to support.”
FAO conducted an assessment in August and September 2016 in areas that were most impacted by the drought, with particular focus on the heavily crop-dependent regions of Amhara, Oromiya, Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples (SNNP) and Tigray.
It said that about half of the beneficiaries from randomly selected households indicated that their livelihoods would have been in jeopardy had they not received emergency seed for the Meher cropping season.
It is estimated that Ethiopia needs an additional US$45 million for the crop and livestock sectors to rehabilitate affected farmers and pastoralists, bringing the total requirement for the agriculture sector to US$91.3 million since the beginning of 2016.
The bulk of this funding, about US$36.2 million, aims to support animal health activities, such as vaccinations and treatments, with more than 2.4 million livestock-dependent households now requiring assistance until the end of the year.
As of October 2016, FAO said it had mobilized about US$14 million to respond to the crisis, but it urgently needs an additional US$14 million to support livestock-dependent families in affected regions until the end of 2016.
In order to boost the resilience of crop and livestock-dependent communities, FAO is currently developing a resilience strategy for Ethiopia to support the Government and partners’ efforts with technical expertise and capacities.
Source PANA
