ACTED works to increase the food security of vulnerable herders in the West Bank

A confluence of natural and man-made factors in recent years has severely impacted the agricultural sector of the West Bank. Small-scale herders in particular face growing food insecurity and impending loss of livelihood. With the support of the European Commission’s Humanitarian Aid Office, ACTED is currently implementing a year-long project to support vulnerable small-scale herders in the most impoverished governorates.

Small ruminant herders in the West Bank have been especially affected by the cumulative impact of ongoing drought, skyrocketing input prices and tightening Israeli administrative and military measures. Fodder prices alone are an average 45% higher today than they were in 2005. Israeli closures and settlements continue to limit access to grazing land and water sources. Furthermore, despite the resumption of international aid to the Palestinian Territories in 2007, the impact of the recent boycott and sanctions remains severe.

The consequences are far-reaching. The growing crisis in the herding sector places some of the most vulnerable families in the West Bank still further at risk. Small-scale herding has traditionally been a key means for impoverished rural households to cope with the worsening economic and food security situation in villages. As small-scale herding becomes increasingly unsustainable, many resort to the depletion of livestock assets to cope in the short-term, and families are left with no sufficient dependable source of livelihood.

Since January 2008, ACTED has been implementing a project that targets vulnerable small-scale sheep and goat herders in the governorates of Salfit, Nablus, Qalqilya and Ramallah. Ninety former herders who were forced to sell their flocks in recent years have received three pregnant ewes over the course of the programme. Just under 500 herders spanning a total of twenty villages receive support in the form of fodder distribution, veterinary care, shed rehabilitation and other activities.

In an effort to mitigate high fodder prices and growing dependence on commercial fodder, ACTED encourages a variety of alternative feed activities. These include the rehabilitation of over 550 dunums of land for feed crop cultivation, the use of olive cakes for feed and a pilot ensilage project that converts crop and greenhouse residuals into nutrient-rich feed for the animals. To help increase household revenues from milk processing, ACTED distributes milk powder to expand the period during which the sheep’s milk can be used for consumption and sale.

Already by October 2008, there has been marked improvement in the situation of the beneficiaries, but the livelihood of small-scale breeders in general remains highly precarious. ACTED intends to continue and expand its intervention in this critical sector in the year to come.

Find more articles on our programmes implemented in the Palestinian Territories here

Category: News on December 17th, 2008