Addis Ababa — The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) said it has handed over the Assayita Live Stock Market which was completed under the Pastoralist Livelihoods Initiative (PLI) to the regional government on Thursday.

In a statement sent to The Daily Monitor on Thursday, the agency said the market located in Assayita town of the Afar regional state represented a link in an improved "value chains" to strengthen livestock sector performance that will lead to economic benefits for pastoralists.

"The new livestock market is one of the 25 sites to build with USAID support, making a tremendous difference in the lives of pastoralists," said Biruktawit Dawit Abdi, ACDI/VOCA country representative.

PLI project was launched by USAID in October 2005 in Somali, Afar and Oromia regions of the country to help pastoralist communities build more sustainable livelihoods and become less vulnerable to draught and other shocks, the statement indicated.

The livelihood marketing component of PLI, implemented by ACDI/VOCA, seeks to strengthen the country's livestock marketing system by increasing sales to high value domestic and export markets.

The statement stressed that an essential activity towards achieving this goal is to construct key livestock market facilities to reduce costs and improve pastoralists' access to markets.