Building drought resilience in Ethiopia

This case study by the Green Economy Coalition examines the impact of drought on rural livelihoods in Ethiopia and evaluates the effectiveness of traditional humanitarian aid versus market-based resilience strategies implemented by Mercy Corps.

• Climate change has intensified water shortages in Ethiopia, leading to a situation where drought years now outnumber rainy years in every decade. This volatility threatens the livelihoods of the 80% of the population supported by rural activities, particularly pastoralists who rely on fragile rangelands.
• Traditional humanitarian aid responses, such as 'slaughter destocking' (buying animals to distribute meat for free) and the free distribution of forage and medicine, may undermine long-term resilience. These methods can put local veterinary and forage suppliers out of business and leave farmers without the herds necessary to restart their lives after a drought.
• The Accelerated Livestock Off Take (A LOT) program, piloted by Mercy Corps Ethiopia in 2016, used a market-based approach to maintain livestock prices during drought. By providing traders with a subsidy of 210 Ethiopian Birr (£8.00) per sheep or goat to offset fattening costs, the program encouraged continued trade in remote markets. During the 2016/7 drought, this method destocked 30,000 sheep and goats and 3,000 cattle in the Somali, Afar, and Borena regions at 10% of the cost of traditional slaughter destocking.
• To strengthen local business systems, Mercy Corps provided 50% investment grants to approximately 50 small businesses, including agricultural stores and veterinary outlets. During droughts, the organization issued redeemable vouchers for these local enterprises rather than distributing free supplies, which allowed businesses to expand and farmers to access professional advice and a wider range of products.

APA

Worsley, S. (2017). Building drought resilience in Ethiopia. Green Economy Coalition. https://www.greeneconomycoalition.org/news-and-resources/building-drought-resilience-in-ethiopia

Chicago

Worsley, Stuart. Building drought resilience in Ethiopia. Green Economy Coalition, 2017. https://www.greeneconomycoalition.org/news-and-resources/building-drought-resilience-in-ethiopia.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Worsley |first1=Stuart |title=Building drought resilience in Ethiopia |publisher=Green Economy Coalition |date=4 October 2017 |url=https://www.greeneconomycoalition.org/news-and-resources/building-drought-resilience-in-ethiopia |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{worsley2017building, author = {Worsley, Stuart}, title = {{Building drought resilience in Ethiopia}}, institution = {Green Economy Coalition}, year = {2017}, month = oct, url = {https://www.greeneconomycoalition.org/news-and-resources/building-drought-resilience-in-ethiopia}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }