UN HUMANITARIAN OFFICE SEEKS MORE SUPPORT FOR WATER-HARVESTING PROGRAMME TO INCREASE ETHIOPIA’S RURAL FOOD SECURITY

UN HUMANITARIAN OFFICE SEEKS MORE SUPPORT FOR WATER-HARVESTING

PROGRAMME TO INCREASE ETHIOPIA’S RURAL FOOD SECURITY

ADDIS ABABA, 8 December -- TheUnited Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Ethiopia has asked for increased support to water-harvesting schemes in that country following a mission to evaluate the programme.  Under the direction of the Ministry of Agriculture, the programme is a key element of the government’s efforts to increase food security for rural populations countrywide.

In Amhara and Tigray, approximately 70,000 ponds and tanks were constructed last fiscal year alone.  A few hundred thousand more are to follow.  They will help reduce poverty and increase food security by making water available to irrigate and produce higher value crops and provide water for livestock.  A secondary but equally important benefit is the provision of water for household use, greatly decreasing the work involved in fetching water and increasing the time that household members can devote to productive labour.

The programme has demonstrated that success is possible if proper construction is undertaken, the linings of ponds are properly prepared and the ponds are placed properly to receive and hold maximum runoff from rainfall.  The ponds can provide additional water for the irrigation of smallholdings during the rainy season and can also provide water for a few weeks after the end of the season to ensure better yields.

The humanitarian community is extremely interested in seeing such longer-term initiatives succeed to reduce dependence on humanitarian food aid, and thus improve livelihoods for the future.  United Nations organizations including the World Food Program (WFP) and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), several bilateral and multilateral donors, as well as non-governmental organizations, are currently supporting approaches to better utilize rainfall.   Some are directly supporting water-harvesting schemes.

      For more information, please contact OCHA – Ethiopia, tel.: (251 1) 444414 / (251 1) 444151; fax: (251 1) 511292; email: ocha-eth@un.org; website: www.ocha-eth.org.

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