Print page

Sustainable Natural Resources Management (NRM) for Enhanced Pastoralist Food Security in the Borana Zone, Ethiopia.


Natural resources, particularly water and pasture, are among the key determinants of pastoralist livelihoods’ sustainability. The proposed Project contributes to the outcomes of the SDC’s Food Security Domain as stipulated in the Swiss Cooperation Strategy Horn of Africa. It aims at improving pastoralist food security and adaptive capacities in the lowlands of Borana Zone, Southern Ethiopia, through enhancing the sustainable management of natural resources.

Country/region Topic Period Budget
Ethiopia
Agriculture & food security
Climate change and environment
Water

Agricultural development
Environmental policy
Water resources conservation
01.01.2023 - 31.12.2027
 CHF  0
The project in brief
Background

Borana pastoralists are faced with different sets of complex problems that contributed to their increased vulnerability and food insecurity over the past two decades. This is mainly attributed to socio-economic, political and environmental factors. Land degradation mainly due to bush encroachment, overgrazing, soil erosion, population pressure, recurrent drought, and the weakening of the traditional rangeland and/or land use management systems are among the key factors for the weakening of the pastoralists’ livelihood. On the other hand, resource-based conflicts, limited national political representation alongside failure to recognize communally owned rangelands in policy frameworks fuelled pastoralists’ vulnerability to shocks and disasters and shrinkage of grazing lands.

The proposed contribution aims at improving (agro-) pastoralists’ food security and adaptive capacities through improving and strengthening natural resources management practices, governance system and pastoralist income diversification. Thus, the programme will address one of the major root causes of pastoralists’ food insecurity and vulnerability.

There are different actors in NRM in Borana zone with different sets of approaches and interventions, which are weakly coordinated and harmonized. The Government of Ethiopia (GoE) at local and regional level, Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), Community Based Organizations (CBOs) and customary institutions are the main stakeholders of NRM related interventions in Borana zone. For this reason, SDC will consider addressing the prevailing NRM related problems in Borana through (1) working through the GoE and (2) through NGOs with an open tender process.

The intervention is foreseen for a total duration of circa 12 years over 3 phases, with a total budget of CHF 18 million. A budget of CHF 6.0 million per phase is proposed.
Directorate/federal office responsible SDC
Project partners Contract partner
Foreign state institution
  • Sub-National State SouthEast


Estimated operational start of intervention

(Main Credit Phase 1):

01.01.2016
Budget Current phase Swiss budget CHF    0 Swiss disbursement to date CHF    0
Project phases Phase 99 01.01.2023 - 31.12.2027   (Current phase) Phase 1 01.06.2015 - 30.11.2022   (Completed)
  • Sector according to the OECD Developement Assistance Commitiee categorisation AGRICULTURE
    GENERAL ENVIRONMENT PROTECTION
    WATER SUPPLY & SANITATION
    Sub-Sector according to the OECD Developement Assistance Commitiee categorisation
    Agricultural development
    Environmental policy and administrative management
    Water resources conservation (including data collection)
    Cross-cutting topics The project promotes biodiversity.
    Conflict reduction
    The project takes account of gender equality as a cross-cutting theme.
    The project takes account of democratisation, good governance and human rights as cross-cutting themes.
    The project also supports partner organisation improvements
    Aid Type Project and programme contribution
    Project number

    7F09038

Start of page
Last update 26.09.2023