SILVER SPRING, Md.--In southern Somalia, a combination of poor seasonal rains, civil insecurity, and the resulting escalation of food prices have contributed to a loss of economic opportunities in the region, further depleting scarce family resources and deteriorating an already difficult humanitarian situation, reported the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA).
To aid vulnerable families, ADRA implemented the Emergency Water and Livelihood Support Programme (EWLSP), a multi-phase project that has provided emergency relief for hundreds of thousands in the Bay and Bakol regions, strengthening their resilience against chronic lack of food and economic instability.
EWLSP was originally launched in response to a severe drought that ravaged the targeted regions in 2006. Since then, it has benefited more than 300,000 people in the Bay and Bakol regions, including some 130,000 during the third phase of the project.
Through EWLSP, ADRA rehabilitated local water points to improve community access to clean water, helped residents improve their financial situation through participation in income-generating activities, and provided training for community members in conflict mitigation. Other key components included improving nutrition by establishing new kitchen gardens, and providing training for village health promoters.
"I am very happy to have learned the importance of vegetables for good nutrition and for economic gain," said a project participant who learned to grow various types of vegetables and fruits through ADRA's Kitchen Gardening Initiative. "In addition to increasing my income, the health of my family has improved. Thank you ADRA for introducing me to kitchen gardening."
EWLSP, funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) in cooperation with the Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA), ended its third phase in July 2009. Throughout the project, ADRA also worked in partnership with local communities, including local women's groups, and community leaders.
ADRA has been operating in Somalia since 1992, implementing emergency relief and development interventions in various sectors, including water, primary health, education, food security, infrastructure, institutional capacity building and economic development.
ADRA is a non-governmental organization present in 125 countries providing sustainable community development and disaster relief without regard to political or religious association, age, gender, race, or ethnicity.
For more information, visit www.adra.org.
[ Any views expressed in this article are those of the writer and not of Reuters. ]
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