8 February 2016. Addis Ababa. Ethiopia - Amadou Allahoury Diallo, FAO Representative in Ethiopia. This water pond (water harvesting structure) was constructed with the support of FAO in Gewane District of Afar Region, to collect water from rain. It has been serving the local people including to drink thousands of their animals when the drought season is at its pick. Communities travel from far areas to get to this water. Thousands of animals drink from the water pond. FAO supports the Afar regional government? effort to improve the livelihood of pastoral and semi-pastoral households through animal and crop production, animal health and feed, water supply for livestock, crop and fodder based irrigation and livelihood diversifications. These projects have partly built the resilience of the local communities against natural hazards like the ongoing drought which affected nearly half a million people in the region. FAO? water and income diversification projects have become instrumental to tackle the negative impacts of El Niño induced drought for pastoral and agro-pastoral communities in the Afar Region of north eastern Ethiopia.