Disaster Risk Reduction Experiences and Lessons Learned from MERET Arega Yirga 13 October 2014 Addis Ababa

Overview Main Objectives Underlying Causes of Vulnerability (land degradation) Main Resilience Building Packages Major Achievements Main Factors Contributed to Achieving Resilience Building Conclusion Outline

Overview MERET has been implemented in areas: Highly vulnerable to recurrent droughts Highly degraded mainly due to mismanagement and lack of organized interventions Suffering from structural food deficit Highly fragile ecosystems and moisture stress Highly dependant on natural resources base for their livelihoods

Main Objectives of MERET Empower communities & build resilience to shocks –Support communities to promote resilience –Use and develop skills and knowledge to build resilience Improve livelihoods through sustainable development of natural resources Enable access to poor households to development opportunities Make solid connection between the people and their enabling environment Build equity to development opportunities and access to assets created

Underlying causes of Vulnerability (land degradation)  Backward and traditional agricultural practices  High population pressure leading to poor land management practices  Land use change  Deforestation  Cultivation of marginal lands  Livestock pressure and uncontrolled grazing  Undulating & rugged topography

Inappropriate land use Undulating and rugged topography Deforestation Traditional agricultural practices Livestock pressure Rapid population growth Main Risk factors that cause Food Insecurity Food Insecurity Extreme climate events

Major Resilience Building Packages of MERET

 Technical support and skill training for field staff  Community-based participatory watershed planning and implementation

 Soil and water conservation activities  Physical moisture conservation  Increases productivity  Reforestation & management of degraded lands –increases resilience (adaptation) –Reduces greenhouse gas emissions  Degraded hillsides rehabilitation & development  Hillside SWC activities

 Runoff water harvesting for small and medium scale irrigation development  Moisture harvesting for productivity enhancement in degraded and water stress areas  Multiplication of improved planting materials  Seedling production activities  High value tree & fruit seedling production

 Land fertility & productivity improvement  Low cost soil fertility improvement & management  Increase carbon sequestration in the soil  Farm land terracing for agricultural productivity improvement  Soil moisture conservation improvement  enhances achievement of food security

Livestock Development  Beekeeping  Animal fattening at individual household levels  Poultry production as one of IGAs

 Promotion of various income generating activities (IGAs)  Cash crops and horticultural development  Growing & multiplication of various high value income generating fruit trees  Animal fodder production for livestock development

Many farmers have built sustainable resilience and changed their lives from poor to good quality living Before & after MERET

Main Factors Contributed to Achieving Resilience Building  Community empowerment & sense of ownership  Implementation of appropriate and adaptable technologies  Establishment of quality control and performance measurement  Technical capacity building at all levels  Application of quality control system  Provision of necessary inputs for farmers

Main Factors Contributed to Achieving Resilience Building (cont’d)  Application of need-based technical capacity building for planning & implementation  Integrated participatory watershed management approach  Demonstration of new and demand-driven technologies on the ground  Strong and equitable community ownership to manage and monitor natural resources

Conclusion  Build appropriate disaster prevention, mitigation, preparedness & response on people’s capacities & tackle root causes of vulnerability  NRM as a primary option for food insecure communities, must be tailored to the needs of communities  NRM should be embedded into a broader community-based approach to building sustainable resilience and food security  Demand-driven & community owned development interventions play a significant role in making transition to resilience building and green growth more inclusive

The Way Forward to Resilience for Life Thank You