New Program to Address Adaptation to Climate Change, Food Security, and Livestock Market Development
For Immediate Release
Addis Ababa – The U.S. Government announced a new five year program today that builds on nearly a decade of experience in drought-stricken and pastoralist areas of Ethiopia in order to benefit more than 250,000 households in Afar, Oromia, and Somali regions. Joining the resources of the U.S. President’s Feed the Future and Global Climate Change Initiatives, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) launched the Pastoralist Areas Resilience Improvement and Market Expansion (PRIME) program to respond to increasing pressures on pastoralist livelihoods. USAID Mission Director Dennis Weller presented the keynote address at the event, which was opened by State Minister of Agriculture Sileshi Getahun and attended by federal and regional government officials, private sector representatives, and local and international implementing partners.
PRIME will support sustainable improvements in resilience among pastoralists to allow them to withstand increasingly frequent weather and market shocks that threaten the well-being of their communities and families. At the same time, PRIME will address the reality that many households will continue to transition out of the pastoralist lifestyle and will support the development of non-pastoral livelihoods.
PRIME will stimulate increased productivity and competitiveness in the livestock and livestock products markets, increase communities’ ability to adapt to a changing climate and increase food security and nutrition, improve alternative livelihood options through essential skills transfer including literacy and numeracy, basic employability skills, and entrepreneurship and technical training. PRIME will also closely monitor and evaluate and contribute to the wider knowledge of pastoral development in East Africa through targeted policy research and knowledge management initiatives.
Mercy Corps will lead implementation of the program valued at $52 million along with international and Ethiopian partners: CARE, Kimetrica, SOS Sahel, Pastoralist Concern, Haramaya University, the Action for Integrated Sustainable Development Association, and the Aged and Children Pastoralist Association.
At the launch event, Weller asserted: “PRIME is designed with multiple and complementary interventions to build resilience to recurring crises, improve the livelihoods of pastoralists and the wellbeing of their families and communities, and develop the potential of the livestock market to contribute robustly to the achievement of Ethiopia’s Growth and Transformation Plan.”
See Also
PRIME Launch Press Release, English [PDF, 62 KB]
PRIME Launch Press Release, Amharic [PDF, 108 KB]
PRIME Launch Remarks by USAID Ethiopia Mission Director Dennis Weller [PDF, 263 KB]
Related Resources
USAID Ethiopia: Agriculture and Food Security
USAID Ethiopia: Feed the Future
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