ETHIOPIA: Qurbani intervention

Meat delivered to pastoral villages in Ethiopia as part of Penny Appeal’s 2017 Qurbani programme

In underprivileged villages and towns of Ethiopia many people live with profound food insecurity as part of their everyday lives, because of this, countless people cannot enjoy Eid al-Adha with their families and friends, this is something that Penny Appeal’s Qurbani programme looks to remedy.

As well as food insecurity many regions in Ethiopia suffer from general poor health status, malnutrition and prevalent disease. By providing Qurbani meat this programme ensured that people had nutritious, healthy and locally sourced food on Eid al-Adha.

Overall, 12,000 beneficiaries received Qurbani meat in several pastoral villages within the Bale Province of central Ethiopia. As part of this group, the most in need were identified to receive Qurbani meat as priority, such as; the poorest families, orphans, the elderly and widows.

To decide who needed the meat the most, a Qurbani committee was established, made up of local community and religious leaders, the committee helped to organise and advise on the logistics of the Qurbani distribution, before selecting the correct beneficiaries from registered local households.

Beneficiaries, as part of the committee also helped to identify Qurbani sheep and goats from local traders, transported the animals to the appropriate sites, provided enclosures and care for the animals before arranging their slaughter and subsequent distribution of their meat.

In total, 1,700 sheep and goats were purchased - as they were acquired from local traders - this resulted in a knock-on effect for the local economy. From the animals, a total of 51,000 kgs of fresh meat was yielded. Before purchase, all the animals were thoroughly checked for health defects and general wellbeing, ensuring that the Qurbani meat would be of optimum quality.

Feedback from the meat distribution confirms the positive effects of the programme. With improved nutritional status, and overall health conditions of the families targeted. Children, orphans, the elderly, pregnant women and widows all benefitted from the high-protein meat.

One such beneficiary is Fate Ibro Abdo, a 35-year-old widow. She said, “We have lost all our animals due to recurring drought, we are very much poor. I don’t have enough food for my seven orphan children. Getting meat is a dream for me and for my orphans, so I am very pleased with this Qurbani goat you provided me today. I am definitely sure it will help me in satisfying my children’s year-long request of meat. May Almighty Allah bless you.”