Partners for Resilience: Ethiopia The project aims to reduce the impact of natural hazards on vulnerable community members. It increases the resilience of communities to disasters, climate change and environmental degradation. The project also increases the capacity of civil society organisations (CSO's) to cope with these natural hazards. Ethiopia is one of the fastest growing economies of sub-Saharan Africa and the agriculture sector is critical to the economy. However, smallholder farmers and pastoralists increasingly face challenges to sustain their natural environment from which they derive their livelihoods and are caught in a downwards spiral of natural resource degradation, poverty and food insecurity. The causes of this include factors related to climate change and isuffiecient policy support. In Ethiopia the project strengthens communities' resilience by restoring the ecosystems through, among other things, improving watersheds, reclaiming land, restoring land and introducing improved grazing systems. The project also develops the capacity of communities and local CSO's by developing risk reduction plans and supporting policy dialogue and a more effecient allocation of resources. The target groups of the programme are smallholder farmers, who depend on rain-fed crop production and pastoralists in drought prone areas. Their livelihoods are vulnerable to natural hazards aggravated by climate change and natural resource degradation. The programme will reach between 750,000 - 1,000,000 world wide andis organized by the 'Partners For Resilience', which The Netherlands Red Cross is a member of.. Other partners include CARE Nederland, Cordaid, Wetlands International and The Red Cross. The drought prone areas that will be targeted are: Afar Region, Zone 5, Dewe Woreda, Telarak Woreda, Oromia Region, East Hararghe Zone, Kurfachelle Woreda, Gorogutu Woreda, Borena Zone, Mio Woredam, Guji Zone, Goro Dola Woreda, Amhara Region, South Gonder Zone, Ebinat Woreda, South Omo Zone, Dassanech Woreda and Niangatom Woreda.