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

OverviewMERET 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

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 systemProvision 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