Livestock re-stocking project

Even after long-awaited rains start, many pastoralists slide into destitution in the post-drought period as they have lost so many of their livestock that they can no longer sustain their livelihoods.

At this stage restocking is the most appropriate intervention as pasture is plenty and there are fewer animals on the rangeland. The aim is to enable destitute pastoralists to rebuild their herds so that they do not end up settling in shanty settlements on the outskirts of villages and towns, depending on begging and other forms of hand outs for survival.

A pastoralist family needs a large herd of small ruminants to meet its needs, several dairy animals (preferably camel in this target area) to provide income, and a minimum of two pack camels to enable opportunistic movement in search of pasture and water. To ensure that the herd can be rebuilt to an economically viable level reasonably quickly, good seed-animals with the appropriate combination must be provided to the beneficiary families.

Following the drought in 2005, VETAID is therefore re-distributing 3,000 small ruminants and 150 dairy/pack camels to 200 destitute families living Ainaba and Garadag of Sool and Sanag regions, respectively (both identified by the Food Security Analysis Unit as so-called red spot areas).

Activities:

• Setting up 3 Pastoralist Committees (PCs).
• Identifying actual beneficiaries and deciding with PCs the number of animals each family is getting.
• Buying animals from the market and transporting to the site of distribution.
• Provision of water, fodder, penning, and veterinary services to livestock before handing over to the end beneficiaries.