Key Findings
Studies confirmed that recurrent drought is the single most important survival challenge of the Borana
pastoralists.  Recurrent drought occurs in the Borana Zone of Oromia Region in Southern Ethiopia
every 1 -2 years...  and wipes out thousands of livestock.  For instance, 80% of Borana livestock died in the 2000 drought (Angasse A. & Oba G., 2007),  and about 34,000 cattle died only in Arero District in the 2017 drought (Arero District Office, 2019).   As we speak now, a new round of livestock massive deaths is taking place in Borana and Bale zones.   Humanitarian interventions have dominated over sustainable development efforts as solutions to the challenge.  Most development and emergency relief efforts undertaken in response to the recurrent drought have either been proved failure or insufficient to meaningfully tackle the massive livestock deaths and their negative consequences on humans and the environment.   Even Index-Based Livestock Insurance (IBLI) which is considered relatively a more effective ongoing initiative has suffered from limited coverage and low uptake.  As a result, the Borana are trapped in life-threatening survival challenges than any time in history and looking for a system-level, contextualized, and sustainable solution. 

Livestock Bank is found a highly promising innovative solution to meaningfully tackle the effects of the recurrent drought (Dejene, Gudina, & Nega, 2020).