SECTOR OVERVIEW
USAID’s Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance (USAID/OFDA) supports agriculture and food security interventions that address the immediate humanitarian needs of populations whose livelihoods and ability to meet basic food needs have been affected by disasters. USAID/OFDA also works to strengthen local disaster response capacity and increase resilience to future emergencies that could negatively affect agricultural activities and food security. In Fiscal Year (FY) 2012, USAID/OFDA worked with farmers to rehabilitate agricultural infrastructure and facilitate economic recovery by supporting agriculturally based livelihood activities in the aftermath of disasters. USAID/OFDA-funded programs benefited livestock and fisheries, implemented pest control programs, and supplied veterinary medicine and agricultural inputs. In total, USAID/OFDA provided more than $78 million in FY 2012 to support agriculture and food security activities in 30 countries, as well as regional programs in west, east, and southern Africa.
RESPONDING TO ACUTE NEEDS AND BUILDING RESILIENCE IN THE SAHEL
USAID/OFDA provided more than $17.2 million in FY 2012 to support agriculture and food security programs in drought-affected areas of Burkina Faso, Chad, the Gambia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, and Senegal. In addition to meeting acute needs in the Sahel, USAID/OFDA supported programs that strengthen community resilience to future agriculture and food-related crises.
In Mali, USAID/OFDA responded to critical needs by supporting emergency agriculture and food security activities, including initiatives that promote home gardens, strengthen pastoral livestock breeding programs, and reinforce local drought early warning systems. In FY 2012, USAID/OFDA provided more than $284,000 to ACDI/VOCA to assist drought-affected households in central Mali’s Mopti Region. ACDI/VOCA aims to protect households’ livelihoods through the provision of fodder vouchers that support livestock-raising activities, as well as to improve access to high-yield, drought-resistant seeds while educating farmers about the benefits of these seeds to increase agricultural production. With USAID/OFDA funding, ACDI/VOCA also aims to strengthen communities’ long-term food security and disaster management capacity through trainings on preparing livestock for sale in markets, producing improved seeds locally, and conducting village-level early warning and disaster risk reduction activities.
