Supporting herders to get back on their feet and preventing
further livestock losses and suffering are crucial in drought-hit Ethiopia
where hunger has been on the rise this year, warned today the Food and
Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), reports NaijaAgroNet.
Drought has devastated herders’ livelihoods as it exhausted
pastures and water sources, leading to a significant number of animals dying or
falling ill, particularly in the southern and southeastern regions of the
country as other areas recover from previous seasons’ El NiƱo-induced drought.
Drought-hit pastoralists face reduced milk production,
rising malnutrition, and have limited income-earning capacity and severely
constrained access to food.
Some 8.5 million people – one in 12 people – are now suffering
from hunger; of these, 3.3 million people live in Somali Region.
The current food and nutrition crisis is significantly
aggravated by the severe blow to pastoral livelihoods. For livestock-dependent
families, the animals can literally mean the difference between life and death,
especially for children, pregnant and nursing women for whom milk is a crucial
source of nutrition.
With up to 2 million animals lost so far, FAO is focusing on
providing emergency livestock support to the most vulnerable pastoralist
communities through animal vaccination and treatment, supplementary feed and
water, rehabilitating water points, and supporting fodder and feed production.
“It is crucial to provide this support between now and
October – when rains are due – to begin the recovery process and prevent
further losses of animals. If we don’t act now, hunger and malnutrition will
only get worse among pastoral communities,” said Abdoul Karim Bah, FAO Deputy
Representative in Ethiopia.
By providing supplementary feed and water for livestock,
while at the same time supporting fodder
production, FAO seeks to protect core breeding animals and enable drought-hit
families to rebuild their livelihoods. Animal health campaigns will be reinforced
to protect animals, particularly before the rains set in, when they are at
their weakest and more susceptible to parasites or infectious diseases.
FAO-supported destocking and cash-for-work programmes will also provide a
crucial source of cash for families.
ReplyDeleteI want to give a big thanks to a great spell caster commonly known as DR TAKUTA for the great spiritual prayers he did in my life by bringing my ex-lover back to me after many months of breakup and loneliness. With this, I am convinced that you are sent to this word to rescue people from heartbreaks and also to help us get the solution to every relationship problem. for those of you out there who have one relationship problem or the other why not contact DR TAKUTA. that is the best place you can solve all your problems, including a lack of jobs and promotions, binding and marriage spells, divorce and attraction spells, good luck and lotto spells, fertility, and pregnancy spells, and also the business success and customer increase, winning court cases and many more. contact him at takutaspellalter@gmail.com or contact mobile contact +27788634102