Livelihood interventions save lives and strenghten resilience

By José Luis FERNANDEZ

Senior Regional Emergency Coordinator
FAO’s Sub-regional Emergency and Rehabilitation Office - West Africa/Sahel

FAO Representative Senegal a.i.

The frequency, complexity and scale of crises affecting food and agriculture make it increasingly difficult for smallholder producers to cope and recover each time. That is why disaster risk reduction and resilience – from protecting and strengthening sustainable livelihood systems to bolstering monitoring and early warning to developing institutional capacity to manage risks – figure so prominently in FAO’s strategies and programmes. To build a world without hunger, we need to ensure that vulnerable farmers, fishers, foresters and other at-risk groups are better able to withstand and bounce back from these shocks so they can provide for themselves and their families.

FAO’s first priority is to help crisis-affected farming families – many of whom have lost all of their productive assets such as seeds and livestock – produce their own food and rebuild their lives and livelihoods as quickly as possible. At the same time, FAO’s emergency assistance increasingly supports and feeds into longer-term efforts to reduce risks due to multiple hazards.

 For 2013, FAO is requesting a total of USD 135.3 million for livelihood interventions in the Sahel. To start the operations for the main agricultural campaign (May – October 2013), USD 99 million are immediately required. We need urgent assistance to support vulnerable people in need.

Please visit our website www.fao.org/crisis/sahel/the-sahel-crisis/en/