ADDIS ABABA Ethiopian farmers are praising the government and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) after the two agreed to begin a five-year project that aims to boost support for the government and its Agricultural Growth Plan. With fears of a famine expected to hit early next year, farmers in the country told Bikyamasr.com that the early signs they have been given on the project “is really good.” One farmer in the northern part of the country said that “I struggle a lot with assistance and care for the animals and this project, I have been told will be able to help give more aid to keeping the animals healthy.” The Livestock Market Development project, which is valued at $38 million, the Ethiopian government said in a press release, “is designed to improve smallholder farmer incomes and nutritional status through investment in livestock value chains covering beef, dairy, and hide production.” The project will be implemented in districts of the Amhara, Oromia, Tigray and Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples Regional States. The State Minister for Agriculture, Sileshi Getahun, attended the launch of the project with the USAID Ethiopia Mission Director, Dennis Weller, as well as federal and regional government officials, livestock industry representatives and implementing partners. Ethiopia has been hit with drought this year and without efforts to boost land cultivation and livestock care, the country could be facing a devastating 2013 famine, but the USAID project aims to hit certain areas in order to avoid any shortage of water and care.
