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A team from the IGAD Drought Disaster Risk Sustainability Initiative (IDDRSI) and national experts visited Kapoeta, Eastern Equatoria State, to assess the $44 million BREFONS project aimed at improving food and nutrition security in the Horn of Africa.
David Batali Oliver, Director General of Planning and
Sustainable Development at the National Ministry of Environment and Forestry,
said the team assessed the project’s achievements, challenges, and solutions
during their two-day visit.
“It’s almost been three years but of course it’s a five-year
project in arid and semi-arid areas that experiences drought. The project was
design to help the communities build resilience so that they would be able to
overcome and reduce the effects of drought on their livelihoods and their
activities,” Batali said.
“The target beneficiaries of the project are the pastoral
communities. So, most of the activities that FAO as implementing agency is doing,
is setting up basic infrastructure like building slaughterhouse, veterinary
clinics and haffirs for the water for the livestock and many others.”
Building Resilience for Food and Nutrition Security in the Horn of Africa (BREFONS) project which started in 2022 has made significant progress in Kapoeta South, East and North Counties.
The project has led to the construction of 13 boreholes in
Kapoeta South County, improving access to clean water. It has also built a
slaughterhouse and a meat market in the county to support livestock hygiene,
marketing, and meat handling.
To further improve food and water security, a water reserve
(haffir) has been developed to store water for livestock and community use.
Additionally, a veterinary clinic has been established to
provide essential animal health services. In the same number, these facilities
are also being constructed in Kapoeta East and Kapoeta North Counties.
David Kwaje Moga, IGAD’s Head of Mission and National IDDRSI
Coordinator for South Sudan, said the $44 million BREFON project was designed
by IGAD and is being implemented by UN Food and Agriculture organization across
South Sudan, Somalia, Kenya, and Ethiopia with support from the African
Development Bank.
Moga also discussed the role of County Expert Panels (CEPs),
which were created to help monitor and coordinate the project’s implementation
at the local level.
“We are here for two days to trigger what we call National
Experts Panels, to enable us to replicate the model that IDDRSI has been
following in various capitals in the IGAD region. In those places, national
experts from key ministries meet on a regular basis. They meet every quarter,
and the aim is to coordinate government functions, share experiences, and
create joint initiatives,” Kwaje stated.
The team toured several project sites in Kapoeta South County, including the Veterinary Office, slaughterhouse, meat market, and Longeleya Haffir (a water reserve). These site visits allowed the team to evaluate how well the project addresses the community’s needs.