Building Resilience in Drought Prone Areas (Project BRIM Phase II)

Background

Project:

The project is a multi sector intervention aimed at building the resilience of drought affected pastoral, agro-pastoral and dry land farming communities in the Liben zone Each action is designed to contribute to the overall objective to improve resilience to climate related shocks and reduce the level of reliance on external humanitarian assistance.

Several new underground watertanks and rainwater harvesting facilities were constructed. Some villagers were trained to manage those water ressources: They decide how much water is for the people and how much for the animals, and they are responsible that there is enough water during arid times Pastoralism is the main stay of the economy, and livestock play an important role in economic, social, and cultural life of the people in the Liben zone. Therefore an important part of the project is the training of veterinaries and animal health workers, as well as the increase of access to animal drugs.

To guarantee a steady income for the communities that isn’t dependent on agriculture and therefore the climate, four new VICOBAS («Village Community Banks») were implemented. A group of women receives a seven day training where they learn book-keeping, business development skills, etc. After that they develop a saving and loan setting for their village. The group meets on a weekly basis to discuss their major issues, the conditions, and plans. .

VSF-Suisse has established a very firm foundation of collaboration with local government, customary institutes, community members, and other NGO operating in Liben Zone of Moyale and Mubarak woredas . This guarantees smooth implementation of the anticipated project and ensures sustainability.