31 October 2007
Addis Ababa — The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) in its endeavor to improve the lives of the pastoralist community of Ethiopia has inaugurated and handed over the Jijiga, Hartishek, Togochale and Lafessa Livestock Markets in Somali Region last week.
The agency's Pastoralist Livelihood Initiative (PLI) which has been initially set up in order to improve the lives of pastoralists inaugurated the markets representing the first strengthened link in a value chain to improve livestock sector performance and lead to economic benefits for pastoralists who produce livestock for sale, the agency said in a statement.
An overall investment of over $12 million in Somali Region through NGO partners including the International Rescue Committee (IRC), Save the Children US, Save the Children UK and ACDI/VOCA has been allocated in order to realize the aim, according to the statement.
In October 2005, the PLI project was launched by USAID in Somali, Afar and Oromia Regions of the country aiming to help pastoralist communities build more sustainable livelihoods and become less vulnerable to drought and other shocks.
The livestock marketing component of PLI, implemented by ACDI/VOCA, seeks to strengthen Ethiopia's livestock marketing system by increasing sales to high value domestic and export markets. An essential activity toward achieving this goal was to construct key livestock market facilities to reduce costs and improve pastoralists' access to markets, the agency added.
As part of its efforts to boost pastoralists' livelihoods with integrated services such as water, feed and veterinary care USAID is planning to construct a series of market sites in the Somali region.
"In the short term, pastoralists will be able to boost their bargaining power by providing the option of holding their animals until the next market day to obtain a higher price. In the medium and long term, these market improvements will increase Ethiopia's competitiveness at an international level." Ato Ahmed Shade, Head of the Somali Regional Pastoral and Rural Development Coordination Bureau, as well as representative officials of respective municipalities and the Disaster Prevention and Preparedness Bureau (DPPB) attended the signing over ceremony that was organized by ACDI/VOCA (formerly VOCA-Ethiopia).
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