ACDI/VOCA Helps Herder Family Recover from Impact of Israeli-Hezbollah Conflict

The herder community in I’rsal, Lebanon had already been suffering from high poverty rates and deteriorating living conditions before the situation worsened with the July-August 2006 violent conflict between Israel and Hezbollah. Many small-ruminant herders, whose livelihoods depend on meat and milk sales, were blocked from much-needed grazing areas because of road closures and bombings due to the conflict. Milk collection was impossible as pickup trucks and cisterns were targets of air raids. Dairy processors and meat buyers substantially reduced their demand as the war raged on. This created a dire situation for smallholder herders, whose flocks were weakened because of their inability to properly graze and be cared for during the war. The smallholder herding community began to experience significant economic constraints as the area’s economy virtually shut down for a month.

Recognizing the direness of the situation, ACDI/VOCA began implementing an initiative funded by USAID’s Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA) called the Rapid Animal Feeding Aid program (RAAFA or “compassion” in Arabic). The program, which lasted 5 months and ended in April 2007, targeted conflict-affected herders in the area in order to provide much-needed technical assistance and aid to prevent long-lasting economic repercussions. Mohamed Abdel-Karim Ghadada, who lives in I’rsal, was one of the rural herder beneficiaries of the program. He is the head of his family’s household, which includes his wife, who was pregnant with their third child at the time, his parents, and his brother, who is also married and has four children. Together, Mohamed and his household tend to a flock of approximately 400 sheep and goats, earning their incomes through the sales of milk and meat.

Mohamed and his household’s livelihood were hit especially hard by the 2006 war because it came during the summer, which is when the bulk of a herder’s yearly income is earned from milk and meat sales. Because of the conflict, the peak season’s sales were virtually nonexistent. Mohamed was faced with a cash shortage that not only affected his ability to purchase animal feed to support the next season’s sales, but compelled him to forgo repairs and winterization of his home to make scarce funds available for household expenses. Even with his limited spending, Mohamed had to sell 30 sheep after the war to cover costs and buy feed for the remaining herd.

In response to situations like Mohamed's, ACDI/VOCA provided high-protein, high-calorie animal feed rations for sheep and goats to 503 conflict-affected small-ruminant herder households in eastern and western Beqa’a. In addition, ACDI/VOCA provided the households with waterproof tarps, blankets and hygiene kits. Qualifying for assistance under the program’s selection criteria, Mohamed received three tons of animal feed and household maintenance tarps to support him and his family. This assistance allowed Mohamed to continue to pay for the educational costs of his and his brother's children and provide medical care for his pregnant wife. RAAFA’s tarps were used to cover the old, leaking ceiling. Now the home is dry and warm. Because of ACDI/VOCA’s assistance and much-need provisions, Mohamed was able to provide for his household’s educational and health needs. He was also able to forestall selling the remaining goats and sheep, which will ensure his household’s economic security for next season.

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