eritrea emergency response presentation trends and challenges regional consultation dar es salaam
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LWF WS Eritrea Powerpoint Presentation on Emergency Response - Trends & Challenges, Regional Consultation, Eastern & Central Africa, 8th-12th June 2009 Dar-es-Salaam,TanzaniaTRANSCRIPT
Lutheran World FederationLutheran World FederationWorld Service World Service
Eritrea ProgramEritrea Program
Regional Consultation MeetingRegional Consultation MeetingTanzania Tanzania
June 8-12, 2009June 8-12, 2009
Presentation on Presentation on Emergency response - Trends and ChallengEmergency response - Trends and Challengeses
General Information about Eritrea Area: 124,000 Sq.km Location: East Africa Pop.: 3.6 million (est.) 65% live below the poverty line 80% are farmers relying on
agriculture GNI per capita is USD 190 Adult literacy
Female: 49%Male: 71%
Life expectancy 57 years Infant mortality 48 per 1000
live births HDI: 167/179
Lutheran World Federation/World Service - Eritrea Program
Most Common Disasters seen in Eritrea
• Drought
• War
Lutheran World Federation/World Service - Eritrea Program
Others:•Environmental degradation•Pest infestations
Drought
is considered as the main threat to Eritrea, climatic changes increase the frequency
Lutheran World Federation/World Service - Eritrea Program
Effects include:• water resources are
drying up in many of the drought-prone areas, people and livestock are vulnerable.
• There is high shortage of water in urban centres including the capital Asmara.
Widespread agricultural failure
Lutheran World Federation/World Service - Eritrea Program
Lutheran World Federation/World Service - Eritrea Program
Food Security in Eritrea
Eritrea can only produce about 60% of its cereal requirement at most.
The annual cereal requirement is about 659,000 Mt for about 3.6 million pop.
On average about 12-20% increase in production was registered every year since 2004.
Lutheran World Federation/World Service - Eritrea Program
Food Security in EritreaContd.
An estimated 598,000 hectares was cultivated for 2008/2009 season
The preliminary crop estimate for the 2008/2009 season is 30-35% of total cereal requirements
Taking the lower figure, total production of cereals this season is estimated at 200,000 metric tons
Shortfall for total cereal requirements is estimated at 400,000 metric tons which will have to be imported as commercial imports or food aid.
Lutheran World Federation/World Service - Eritrea Program
Failure of Bahri rains affecting most of the secondary crops which make up 20% of the country’s cereal needs
Below Average Azmera rains Late onset of Kremti rains and poor distribution, and
alternating dry spells during the cropping season. Lack of quality seed and fertilizers Damage by pests Weak draft animals affected by drought Lack of appropriate production techniques such as water
conservation and conservation agriculture
Key Constraints for Cereal Production
What do people say“We used to plow our land starting in March but now, unless it rains, the soil is too hard to plow. In the past, the seeds stayed in the soil until the rain started but now they die before the rain comes. We get less milk from our cows and goats because of the scarcity of fodder. We used to get wild fruits from the trees but now the few trees remaining do not bear fruit. Our parents and grandparents used to consume milk, butter, honey, different fruits and vegetables but not today.”
Quote from God, Creation and Climate Change
LWF – A communion of ChurchesGeneva, 2009
Lutheran World Federation/World Service - Eritrea Program
Lutheran World Federation/World Service - Eritrea Program
Year Wheat Wheat flour
Sorghum Barley Millet
Feb - 04 510 700 810 - 1,200
Feb - 05 567 1,000 825 - 1,000
Feb - 06 856 1,388 1,000 - 800
Feb - 07 1,350 1,500 900 700 1,050
Feb - 08 2,200 3,000 1,300 1,600 950
Asm Sept
2008
3000 3400 2000 5000 3000 6100
Masw Sept
2008
3500 N/A 2500 N/A 2500 N/A
Cereal price trends in ERN/100 kg (1USD = 15ERN)2004 - 2008
Lutheran World Federation/World Service - Eritrea Program
Commodity Prices
The prices of essential commodities, especially food, remain high despite global decrease in food prices.
Wheat prices have risen by 136% since February 2008. Wheat flour has risen by 113% since February 2008Barley prices have risen by about 321% since February 2008
Sorghum prices have risen by about 192% since February 2008
Lutheran World Federation/World Service - Eritrea Program
Income and Poverty Issues Food and housing accounts for the biggest proportion of
household expenditure
Food alone accounts for 50% of household expenditure and 42% of household incomes
Women-headed households who constituted 28% of the total sample population had an average family size of 3.9 and had an average income of ERN306 per month
The Human Development Report and FAO puts the number of people who are vulnerable at 75% of the population while the Living Standards Measurement Survey (LSMS) of 2003 puts this figure at 65%.
This translates to about 2.7 million people in good years and this number is likely to rise in drought years.
Lutheran World Federation/World Service - Eritrea Program
Acute malnutrition among under-five children is high, particularly in Gash Barka and Anseba regions which are above the WHO threshold of 15%.
The prevalence of total malnutrition is alarmingly high, and increase in prevalence has been observed. The highest observed are in Anseba (56%) and Maekel (70%).
Sharp increases in the admission rates in community based therapeutic feeding centers. Admission rates in February 2009 were two to six fold higher than in 2008.
UNICEF through the MoH is planning for blanket supplementary feeding nationwide for 334,000 under-five children , costs for 6 months USD 15 million. ( but …….)
Nutrition Issues
Lutheran World Federation/World Service - Eritrea Program
Movement of people to comparatively better area (from Anseba and Debub to Gash Barka)
Focus on improving food production through improved seed mainly maize and potatoes
Request for increased fertilizer use in irrigated lands Increasing the area under irrigation by building over 200
dams and diversions structures There will not be appeal for food aid Involvement of the army in harvesting and storage Sales of crops and livestock restricted to sales to the
government only and at the Gvt. fixed price…. Monthly food allocations through Kebele system
Government Response
Conflict• The border war with Ethiopia (1998-2000) caused heavy
economic and social losses and continues to be the most serious cause of food insecurity because : • Due to the “no war no peace” situation most of the able bodied
persons are engaged in the military
• Agricultural and industrial enterprises, small scale industries and social infrastructures and facilities including educational and health services were destroyed/damaged
• Displacement of about 1.1 million people from Gash Barka and Debub regions, which contribute some 70% of Eritrea’s total grain production and are host to about 47% of the total population were heavily affected by the war.
(at present except small numbers the majority of the IDPs have returned to their place of origin)
Lutheran World Federation/World Service - Eritrea Program
• Coordinating agency of ACT Eritrea Forum
• Active Member of the IASC group• Member in the Cluster Approach ( WASH, Food Security ) However the clusters are “ dormant” as the Government has not come out with Appeals
and hence the International Donor Community can not be involved in any responses to the situation.
LWF/WS-ER Program Contributions
Dam
Construction/Rehabilita
tion
Lutheran World Federation/World Service - Eritrea Program
Irrigation Development
Lutheran World Federation/World Service - Eritrea Program
Soil and W
ater
Conservation
Lutheran World Federation/World Service - Eritrea Program
School Construction /Rehabilitation
Lutheran World Federation/World Service - Eritrea Program
Provis
ion of
Clean D
rinkin
g Wat
er
Lutheran World Federation/World Service - Eritrea Program
Shelter Construction
Lutheran World Federation/World Service - Eritrea Program
Restocking
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Distribution of
Donkey Drawn Carts
Lutheran World Federation/World Service - Eritrea Program
ChallengesChallenges
General
• policies of the government with regard to emergency assistance. Since 2006, – no food aid is allowed due to government policy of “self reliance” – not possible to carryout any kind of surveys– government is not issuing appeals– UN agencies facing difficulty in communicating with concerned
government bodies- Government not represented in IASC meetings and Clusters
– WFP has closed its operations. It has only a liaison office• no existing government structures and mechanisms dealing with
disaster risk management• low level of public awareness in disaster mitigation
Lutheran World Federation/World Service - Eritrea Program
In Responding to Emergencies
• Lack of access to information (UN and NGOs are not allowed to make assessments)
• Limited donor support for the efforts on relief
(ACT CO Geneva considers the Eritrean situation as “not emergency” and has stopped accepting our appeals)
• LWF is not always legible to apply for EU call for proposals
• Only two ACT member organizations remaining – NCA and LWF (CRS and Oxfam invited as observers)
• High expectation from the government and community
Lutheran World Federation/World Service - Eritrea Program
Lutheran World Federation/World Service - Eritrea Program
Thank You!Thank You!
Any questions?Any questions?