Mali

This study was conducted in the traditional pastoralist communities of Dolo Ado and Bokolmayo districts in the Somali Region of Ethiopia. These are refugee-hosting communities where the World Food Programme (WFP) is providing humanitarian and livelihood support. This research was designed in partnership with WFP with the expectation that its findings may provide lessons that can inform the organization’s program activities benefiting refugee-hosting communities and integrated refugees. Our study examines livelihood and collective action practices in these communities in the context of climate and waterrelated stresses. It seeks to highlight factors and practices that can enhance drought-resilient livelihoods. This aspect of the study required an understanding of traditional, but changing, livelihood strategies and related institutional and sociocultural practices. In this report, we discuss a range of interrelated topics and their implications for livelihood sustainability and linked interventions—which we highlight in the section Conclusions and Suggestions. We envisage that these findings will be useful for WFP’s program agenda of integrating its emergency-humanitarian response with livelihood resilience building through long-term structural and multidimensional food security approaches. Analysis of the historical and social context of farming and collective practices in these communities revealed that crop production and pastoralism have long co-existed as means of livelihood. While cooperative farming has recently expanded in the two study areas, their past experience of collective labor practices did provide the social and cultural foundation for current cooperative action. Local users appreciate irrigation farming conducted through cooperatives for its valuable contribution to food and income security. However, irrigation farming in the study areas operates in terms of cooperatives rather than on the basis of irrigation water users’ associations (IWUAs), which possibly affects the prospect of legal recognition and sustained practice. Understanding such issues is important for improving the practices of current WFP-supported irrigation cooperatives for the benefit of both refugee-hosting communities and hosted refugees. The livelihoods of people in the study areas have historically and traditionally been associated with pastoralism, characterized by livestock herding and mobility. However, there has been a shift from pastoralism toward sedentary farming. This change is being shaped by climatic and political economy factors and processes, thereby giving it the character of an adaptive livelihood strategy. The shift of livelihoods toward farming and crop production involves gender dynamics. It opens new areas of responsibility for women and increases their workload while having implications for gender disparities in economic gain and financial decision-making power. Therefore, it is imperative that cooperative farming and other intervention pr

Agricultural losses driven by climate variability and anthropogenic pressures have severely impacted food security in Senegal. There is a crucial need to generate early warning signals for the upcoming season to enhance food security in response to the sudden climate shocks like drought. In this study, we investigated the spatial distribution of maize and groundnut using factor analysis with a principal component approach. We aimed to identify suitable predictors of crop yields for the development of a seasonal yield prediction model. Subsequently, multi-regression analysis was performed to predict crop yield based on various combinations of satellite-derived vegetation and climate (rainfall) datasets as well as agronomic data from Senegalapos;s 40 districts between 2010 and 2021. Studies revealed a strong correlation between seasonal rainfall (May to September) and crop yield: a 10–20 % decline in rainfall can lead to crop losses. The accuracy of the yield prediction model, built on the best performing scenarios for each district based on monsoon onset, duration, and planting time, exceeded 0.5 (Rsquared) for all districts when combining rainfall and normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) data. The model prediction accuracy varied between 0.6 and 0.8 for major crop growing areas. The study emphasizes that refining the yield prediction model using machine learning techniques can improve its accuracy and enable its implementation in early warning systems. This enhanced capability could bolster Senegalapos;s resilience to climate change by aiding decision-makers and planners in developing more effective strategies to ensure food security.

Adapting to and mitigating the impacts of extreme weather and climate change in fragile environments requires addressing key questions on the status of water availability, accessibility, and technology needs. The primary goal of this research is to provide comprehensive data and actionable insights to support organizations such as the World Food Programme (WFP) and other stakeholders in developing effective strategies for water management, enhancing resilience, and ensuring water access for host communities, refugees, and internally displaced people (IDPs). This study focused on the Dolo Ado and Bokolmayo districts of Ethiopia, which are parts of the Genale Dawa River basin and the Somali Regional State that are categorized as fragile environments with a high degree of sensitivity to climate extremes. To quantify the water availability in the districts, a hydrologic model, Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT), was set up and calibrated at watershed scale. Using this calibrated model, the surface water and groundwater availability were estimated. Surface water availability for Dolo Ado and Bokolmayo districts is estimated to range from 26 million cubic meters (MCM) in February to 843 MCM in May. From the hydrological modeling, it is evident that surface runoff is the lowest water balance component for the districts. This indicates that the major water sources in Dolo Ado and Bokolmayo are derived mainly from the rivers passing adjacent to the districts. Communities living close to the rivers have more access to water, with the challenge of the high cost of pumping river water for domestic and irrigation use. The water for irrigation was quantified from the low flow of streamflow simulation and annual recharge in the districts. After considering the environmental flow, 0.5 to 14.5 MCM can be considered available for irrigation in dry and wet months, respectively. Water availability for irrigation from recharge estimates can range from 1.1 MCM in September to 94.5 MCM in December. With the available water, the potential irrigable area is estimated to be around 5,900 ha and 5,300 ha for two irrigation seasons common in the districts. The results show that there is more surface water potential — mainly from the river — for irrigation in the districts compared to groundwater sources from the shallow aquifers. The status of water accessibility and technology needs was evaluated using a review of the literature and information obtained from stakeholder consultations. Existing challenges in water accessibility in the districts include inadequate infrastructure for water storage, damage to irrigation canals, seasonality of ponds, salinity of groundwater, inadequate access to clean water, and the high cost associated with pumps, fuels, and spares. Appropriate technology interventions are required to address the challenges in water availability and accessibility by the local host communities, refugees, and IDPs. The potential water users in the districts ar

The brief identifies critical gaps in water-related data and skills necessary for the effective implementation of anticipatory water management actions in response to climate change in the Dolo Ado and Bokolmayo districts, Ethiopia. It evaluates current community and local government practices and recommends improvements in data collection, capacity building, and integrated water management to enhance resilience against droughts and floods. Key findings highlight the need for better data monitoring, early warning systems, and infrastructure investment to mitigate water-related hazards and improve local adaptive capacities.