Christian Relief and Development Association Consultation on
UN Inter-agency Task Force for Long Term Food Security and
Development in the Horn of Africa

A one day NGO / UN Inter-Agency Task Force for Long Term Food Security and Agricultural Development in the Horn of Africa consultation was held on 2 August 2000 at the Red Cross Training Center in Addis Ababa. This meeting, involving mainly NGOs that are active in food security and drought issues¹, was held in recognition of the crucial role NGOs are playing in long-term drought alleviation strategies and development programs in Ethiopia. Further, the fact that NGOs are working on the ground in close proximity to the rural population enables them to have a clear insight into the needs and aspirations of the rural community at large.

The main objectives of the meeting were to:

• enrich the interim report prepared by the ACC Inter-agency Task Force on "UN response to Long Term Food Security, Agricultural Development and Related Aspects in the Horn of Africa," based on the experience of NGOs at the grassroots level, and
• suggest ways and means and identify areas of collaboration with UN agencies, Government and other civil society organizations.

In order to facilitate the work, four major themes were identified and group discussions were held on each of them. The four major discussion themes were:

• Enabling environment and cooperation with the Government;
• Broadening rural livelihoods for pastoralists;
• Broadening rural livelihoods for agriculturists;
• Protecting the needy (safety nets).

The groups were also asked to reflect on the changing roles of NGOs / CSOs in the transition from relief to development action, and to suggest how the Horn of Africa Initiative could complement their existing activities.

Despite the complexity of the issues and the relatively limited amount of time allotted for the purpose, the groups held very vibrant, frank and lively discussions and presented their recommendations to the plenary for comments and suggestions. The meeting discussed the reports of the different groups and approved the following major recommendations:

1. GENERAL COMMENTS ON THE INTERIM REPORT

The Report gives the impression that everything is bleak and there is not much hope for development. It is recommended that the finalized report take into account factors such as the following:

• The region has a titanic resource potential (agriculture, mineral and water resources, genetic base, human resources).
• There exist strong traditional values, resource management systems, and external shock coping mechanisms, though these are being eroded.
• There are positive trends / changes in political, economic and governance and an improving enabling environment for development partners including NGOs;
• There are very important regional initiatives that should be recognized and built on by the Task Force.

Further emphasis should also be laid on international issues such as the impact of globalization on food security and the importance of debt relief, and on regional issues such as the potential for regional cooperation, the scope for liberating transboundary resources, and need to address refugee and resettlement problems across the region.

2. ENABLING ENVIRONMENT AND COOPERATION WITH THE GOVERNMENT

For a better analytical approach and for more clarity, this topic was modified to: "Enabling policy, legal and institutional environment for long term food security". The following action was recommended.

With regard to the policy environment:

• Review and strengthen Government policies on agriculture and nutrition;
• In order to enhance the productivity of the farmers and ensure sustainable development in the country, the confidence and empowerment of the farmers have to be ensured through legal land use rights and security for farmers, as has already been initiated in the Amhara Region;
• Improve access to information on improved farming techniques, better seed, credit and services for drought affected farmers and those supporting them in very remote areas;
• Review the assignment of operational areas to NGOs with regard to agro-ecological zones and level of resource-base status, so that their support and contribution to food security can be enhanced. NGOs are now assigned only to drought prone areas and their contribution to agricultural and livestock development is minimal since the current policy environment obliges them to focus more on social service delivery (health, education etc..);

In regard to legal aspects:

• While recognizing the significant improvements in the process of NGO registration and re-registrations, make further efforts to shorten the process, setting a time frame and limiting time spent in consulting with other government bureaus;
• Promulgate a legal framework for NGOs / CSOs to achieve clarity regarding roles, entitlements and responsibilities, taking into account the document on "Good Practice and Recommendations on the Legal Framework for NGOs in Ethiopia" prepared and handed over to the Government by the NGO sector;
• Encourage the current development of NGOs engaging in advocacy, think-tanks and democratization processes;

In regard to institutional aspect:

• Establish a food security forum for policy dialogue with Government;
• Accord NGOs observer status on the Interagency Agricultural Strategy Group;
• Make NGOs' participation in UN agencies' programmes visible and practical by facilitating access to funding;
• Create focal points for NGOs in IGAD and OAU ( ECA has one already);
• Build capacity of local government offices to support local initiatives;
• Establish a decentralized funding mechanism that is efficient, flexible and accessible to all stockholders at Woreda level.

3. BROADENING RURAL LIVELIHOODS FOR PASTORALISTS

• Expand the National Education Policy to ensure it provides appropriate services for the pastoral system, building on NGO experience with mobile schools and boarding schools / hostels;
• Integrate animal and health programs; strengthen the provision of nomadic health care programs; encourage training of paravets and promote revolving funds for veterinary drugs;
• Review the restrictions laid on border trade as the need might arise;
• Identify and develop conflict resolution mechanisms taking into consideration the existing cultural and traditional values of indigenous people;
• Develop a new bridging policy from relief to development tailored to the pasoralist system that takes into account ethical, cultural and traditional values;
• Encourage research on pastoral development and an extension system that is geared to the pastoralist;
• Strengthen the capacity / authority of communities in resource management.

4. BROADENING RURAL LIVELIHOODS FOR AGRICULTURISTS

• Ensure that policies and programs respect and reflect the traditional values, cultures and customs of the target community;
• Seek alternative modalities for repayment of loans for agricultural inputs provided on credit, which do not have a negative impact on farmers' livelihoods;
• Strengthen research-farmer linkage building on local techniques and skills; encourage extension agents to take initiative in response to the local realities they observe;
• Encourage free flow of existing information;
• Encourage integration of the different Government offices dealing with rural development;
• Promote / encourage a voluntary resettlement program through appropriate regional and national policies;
• Promote women's access to land, agricultural extension, technology and services;
• Develop region-specific manuals clarifying responsibilities and procedures for government-CSO / NGO cooperation (as in Oromia);
• Support farmers' risk minimisation and coping mechanisms, including off-farm employment, de-stocking; migratory labor;
• Promote diversified and competitive input supply.
• Encourage diversification of food habits and reduction of unnecessary consumption occurring during festivals and other social occasions as part of a long term food security strategy.

5. PROTECTING THE NEEDY (SAFETY NETS)

Very valuable and constructive recommendations are given under this theme, which are valid not only for protecting the needy but apply also to pastoralists and agriculturists.

• Several early warning systems have been developed and are in use by Government and NGOs. The gap in coordination and lack of feedback / response mechanisms necessitates the development of an integrated and efficient early warning system;
• Promote and strengthen community seed banks (community-based seed security system) as part of a long-term food security strategy and conserve broad genetic base;
• The nutrition intervention which is now under implementation for children should be expanded to reach vulnerable groups in remote rural areas;
• Enhance the formation of social capital;
• Link relief with development, at the same time fostering a strong partnership among the actors (NGOs, Government and the community);
• Introduce mechanisms to properly identify vulnerable groups using local criteria vulnerability profile / mapping, and provide support in time to help them maintain their resilience.

6. CHANGING NGO / CSO ROLES IN LONG TERM DEVELOPMENT

While maintaining their preparedness to respond to relief / emergency as needed, NGOs should increase their pace of transformation from relief to development by:

• Capacity building: INGOs to support indigenous NGOs and the two to work together to build the capacity of local associations;
• Undertaking training of trainers on community initiatives in natural resource management and food security;
• Building negotiation, advocacy and lobbying skills;
• Improving NGO coordination and reduce competition;
• Participating in experience sharing exercise with other parts of the world faced with similar problems;
• Reducing dependency on outside resources (allow income generating activities);
• Being delegated and represented in the system;
• Developing legitimacy and accountability in accessing funds for their initiatives.

7. THE UN HORN OF AFRICA INITIATIVE SHOULD:

• Promote networking among organizations working with pastoralists and with resource-poor farmers;
• Establish a framework to focus on livelihoods and food security in pastoral and drought-prone areas;
• Develop a system for community-level planning (building on the experience of some NGOs) and for channelling funds through community organizations, while encouraging stock-taking and use of local resources in order to promote community self-reliance and reduce dependency;
• Establish a system which promotes donor coordination and ensures flexible and easy access to UN funding.
• Provide support for ongoing CSO/Government dialogue at regional level.

¹HornofAfrica list of Participants Participants list in Annex.