Synthesis of Existing Knowledge and Experience on the Provision of ...

However, the development model for the Growth Corridors Plan still aims for the ‘voluntary’settlement <strong>of</strong> pastoralists in the long term. As pastoralists are increasingly observed to settle,development in pastoral regions is planned with a view towards providing livelihood diversificationopportunities with an agricultural emphasis, especially for youth. For livestock production, a moresettled model is envisioned as it is concluded that current pressures faced by pastoral communitiesare not conducive for mobility, <strong>and</strong> recurrent heavy losses <strong>of</strong> livestock have made pastoralists moreopen to settling (Taye Alemayehu, personal communication. 2009). Even though settled forms <strong>of</strong>livestock production failed in previous rangel<strong>and</strong> development approaches it is believed that thesemodels will work in today’s context because the project also provides other necessary developmentneeds such as roads, communication, access to market information, schools, <strong>and</strong> health services,besides just water (Ibid).Water Development – the entry pointIn Hararge, nineteen deep wells have been drilled in the lowl<strong>and</strong>s, <strong>of</strong> which sixteen are observed tobe highly productive. Water quality in most wells is deemed suitable for domestic <strong>and</strong> agriculturaluse. In East <strong>and</strong> West Hararge, eight water supply schemes targeting existing <strong>and</strong> new settlementareas in five food insecure districts are currently under construction, including more than 496km <strong>of</strong>pipeline, 320 distribution points <strong>and</strong> 164 cattle troughs (The Oromia Development CorridorsApproach Strategic Plan, 2008).In Borana, eight food insecure districts are targeted for the construction <strong>of</strong> water supply schemes,primarily centred on deep wells. So far fourteen deep wells have been drilled with ‘sufficient water<strong>of</strong> acceptable quality’ (Taye Alemayehu, personal communication. 2009). The construction <strong>of</strong> morethan 2000km <strong>of</strong> pipeline has therefore begun in three localities, guided by the proposed l<strong>and</strong> use plan(Ibid).L<strong>and</strong> use planningIntegrated l<strong>and</strong> use planning was introduced under this project as a tool to guide decision-making onbest uses <strong>of</strong> l<strong>and</strong>. It was concluded that a serious impediment to appropriate development is adearth <strong>of</strong> knowledge about available resources <strong>and</strong> their potential uses, which has resulted inunsuitable l<strong>and</strong> use leading to deforestation, l<strong>and</strong> degradation, decreased productivity, <strong>and</strong> increasedvulnerability to food insecurity (The Oromia Development Corridors Approach Strategic Plan,2008).The outputs <strong>of</strong> l<strong>and</strong> use plans include semi-detailed soil maps at district level, <strong>and</strong> the initialidentification <strong>of</strong> suitable areas for cash food crops <strong>and</strong> animal feed production (either rain fed orirrigated, but with more focus on irrigation), areas for agro-industrial development, areas forlivestock production, areas for resettlement, <strong>and</strong> areas for tourism <strong>and</strong> market development.Technical l<strong>and</strong> use manuals have been developed to guide sustainable l<strong>and</strong> use, <strong>and</strong> a draft l<strong>and</strong> useproclamation for pastoral areas will be produced.AgricultureAgriculture is identified as a key development focus to achieve sustainable growth <strong>and</strong> food securityin Oromia (Oromia L<strong>and</strong> Use Guided Valley Development Program, 2009), <strong>and</strong> irrigation is seen asthe “only strategy to exercise sustainable agriculture.”The region is believed to possess about 1.7m ha <strong>of</strong> potentially irrigable l<strong>and</strong> using surface water, onlya fraction <strong>of</strong> which is used for this purpose (Ibid). The Fentale I <strong>and</strong> II irrigation schemes were thusestablished to exp<strong>and</strong> irrigation. About 28,000ha have been set aside for irrigation developmentunder Fentale I, <strong>of</strong> which 900ha have already been developed. For Fentale II, 8000ha have been setaside. The objective is to provide livelihoods for Kerrayu <strong>and</strong> Itu pastoralists by shifting theirlivelihood strategies away from total dependence on ‘unsustainable’ pastoral production toagricultural production (Taye Alemayehu, personal communication, 2009).57