CO-Hydroponic production humanitarian The humanitarian situation in the Sahel is influenced by both structural and cyclical factors. Despite the many different humanitarian and development interventions in the region, needs continue to grow. In Mali, 1.9 million people were food insecure in 2014. It is expected that this number will rise to 4.1 million by the end of 2018. In Niger, 3.5 million people were in phase two. food insecurity in 2015 and 480,000 people in phase three. In 2018, 4.63 million people are in phase two and the number of people in phase three has increased to 760,000. Because of the factors mentioned above, agricultural production and access to fodder in the region are increasingly unpredictable and often largely insufficient to meet needs. The pastoral situation in the region is therefore directly impacted, and by cause and effect, the level of food security of vulnerable populations is deteriorating. This situation, coupled with significant inequalities based on gender, further impacts the situation of women in the region. The livestock sector contributes directly to the food security of vulnerable populations in these regions through the direct consumption of products and by-products derived from them, or through the sale or barter of livestock and animal products. The strategy developed by Oxfam to strengthen theresilience of vulnerable populations includes learning and innovation, among other things. It is essential to find innovative solutions to the structural problems that traditional solutions have not been able to solve (such as an action based solely on direct food distribution).
Following participatory workshops with local communities and consultation of a large group of key actors recently organized in Mali and Niger to highlight the problems and limitationsfaced by beneficiaries in different humanitarian and developmentinterventions elements were highlighted: too little involvement of the direct beneficiaries and taking into account community needs, the lack of complementarities between the different projects, the lack of follow-up at the end of the project in connection with the technical services, management and local authorities. All of these elements can be illustrated through an endless circle that needs to be stopped. The innovative response proposedby Oxfam: the implementation of a hydroponic production system for green fodder inNiger and Mali
The hydroponic production system is an innovative green forage (FV) production technique that can produce large quantities of fodder over a very short period of time (9 days) and throughout the year. This system has been successfully tested since 2016 by Oxfam through WFP funding in the Sahrawi camps in Algeria to address the shortage of small ruminants, and received the WFP Innovation Award in 2017. Oxfamhas decided to implement take advantage of its experience in this field and test the adaptability of the system in Mali and Niger, which face the same climatic conditions and constraints: a very dry and hot climate with low water availability and regularlyfacing feed deficits as well as unpredictable weather hazards. In addition, thanks to the proximity of the intervention zones with Algeria, the sharing of information between the different teams and local and national actors will be facilitated.