Livestock at the heart of famine-prevention in Somalia
05/06/2017
It is pushing forward with what it describes as “a massive campaign” to prevent food shortages in Somalia from developing into famine and has already treated more than 12 million animals. Livestock weakened by a lack of feed and water are highly susceptible to illnesses and parasites, the organisation has said, but are often too weak to withstand vaccination. As part of its response programme, it is treating livestock with multivitamin boosters, medicines that kill off internal and external parasites, deworming, and other treatments to fight respiratory infections, which it says is enough to keep the animals “healthy and productive”.
The organisation has said this action is “protecting the livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of families who rely on their livestock’s meat and milk for survival”. By mid-July, FAO says it will have reached 22 million animals, benefiting more than 3 million people.
“Saving animals saves human lives and livelihoods,” FAO representative in Somalia, Richard Trenchard, has said. “When animals are weakened by drought, they stop producing milk or die, which means people go hungry and families are pushed out of self-reliance.”
It costs 40 US cents to treat an animal, but to replace a dead animal would cost small-scale farmers in Somalia $40.
More than 3 million people in Somalia are on what the organisation has referred to as “a hunger knife-edge”. The majority live in rural areas and livestock such as goats, camels, sheep and cattle are their main source of food and income.
“What we have heard again and again from displaced people in camps is that when they lost their animals, everything collapsed. It is a steep, long climb for them to get back on their feet again. We have stepped up our response to reach families before that happens,” Mr Trenchard has said. “Livelihoods are their best defence against famine.”
FAO is deploying 150 veterinary teams across Somalia to treat goats, sheep, cattle and camels at a rate of up to 270,000 animals each day. The teams are made up of local Somali veterinary professionals.
The campaign in Somalia is being supported byt funding from the UK, Canada and the UN’s Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF).
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