Ethiopia Humanitarian Response Plan 2024 / Part 1: Strategic response priorities

1.3 Costing methodology

The methodology used is based on activity costing with project registration, only for already funded projects. For transparency and comparability purposes, activity formulation has been harmonized across clusters. Activities have been designed to clearly align with the needs identified as well as the strategic objectives in the HRP, while also standardizing the units of targets and deliverables to allow for better aggregation and comparison across activities and clusters. For each activity in this plan, clusters have established units cost ranges, considering cost differences in modality, geographic area, population groups, and timing. All prices are in US dollars. Strategic Objectives have been also costed based on response activities, the target, and the financial requirement for activity. (Annex 4.1) This will allow for more cohesive and comprehensive monitoring and reporting.

Agriculture

The costing methodology was revised using consultations of all regions including the Regional Agriculture Bureaus, Agriculture Cluster partners and the Cluster Lead Agency. Costs may vary by region, areas and access constraints, the differences in of agricultural inputs are not significant, hence an average cost for each activity was applied.

The Cluster has designed a package which ensures quality inputs necessary to respond to the needs exacerbated by overlapping shocks (conflict, drought, floods, pests, and economic challenges). Cost per package has slightly increased due to inflation, worldwide increase of agriculture prices, as well as the quality of inputs to be distributed per household. The Cluster has also added some anticipatory action activities for the forecasted drought and floods, which will enable to protect assets before the shock and hence reduce the impact on food insecurity and production. The Cluster will promote the use of the Cash Plus inputs approach and cash for livelihoods mainly for returnees and IDPs with access to land. This added activity and change in approach will increase the cost per household compared to 2023. The major cost driver for the sector is the cost of quality agricultural inputs (seeds, fertilizer, vaccines, drugs, and tools). Poor availability of locally adaptable seeds is a challenge and, in some cases, with limited availability: T=this results on increased costs due to import of goods. The Cluster is working with the Ministry of Agriculture to explore how partners can make best use of improved locally produced seeds, this reducing costs and time of procurement.

Camp Coordination and Camp Management (CCCM)

In 2024, the CCCM Cluster is targeting 1.09 million people, which will require a budget of US$28.32 million, with activities spread across the four response pillars. The major cost drivers include drought, inflation, conflict, displacement, challenges in accessing affected communities, increased vulnerabilities at family level, additional access barriers for women, the elderly, and persons with disabilities, and affected infrastructures.

The CCCM Cluster adopted the combined approach in its costing to reach the total financial requirement. The general costing of all the activities under the four response pillars has been agreed upon in consultation with other sectors to ensure market prices for labor, materials and contracts are consistent. The prevailing market rates for goods and services were used to determine the overall costs per activity. Historical rates and inflation rates were taken into consideration in calculating the average unit cost against the projected number of training courses planned. In terms of project implementation, the cost is also heavily affected by the availability of skilled and unskilled labor, communication cost as well as materials and equipment. Local/regional unique costs were taken into consideration as well, particularly in terms of workshops, training, and other related activities.

Education

In 2024, in order to target 2.8million school-aged children, education personnel, and caregivers in various education related activities, US$ 101.6million is required, which is a significant decrease from 161 million in 2023. For 2024, the Education Cluster further prioritized activities for emergency-affected children including those which can set foundations for resilience activities by development partners. The Education Cluster has prepared costing by activity. As the interventions and services delivered to children vary, the Cluster is unable to calculate cost per child as the services provided per child differ by partner. The calculations prepared are an average of what Cluster partners currently spend with a slight increase considering inflation expected in 2024.

Emergency Shelter/ Non-Food Item (ES/NFI)

The financial requirement for 2024 retains the activity-based costing approach for both displacement-affected populations and returning migrants. In order to have a more accurate requirement and increased transparency, inclusivity, and credibility of the financial ask for the HRP’s planned interventions, addressing the needs identified in the HNO, the Cluster’s national and Sub-national Technical Working Groups (TWG) have been activated to monitor the market and tailor the response considering the preferences of the affected community. The response modalities were also defined, including in-kind, service, cash, or voucher.

Costs related to the provision of shelter and NFI are based on a full cost recovery model that includes procuring the shelter and NFIs on the local and international markets. Costs related to warehousing, transportation, distribution, human resources, and monitoring are also included. While local procurement could minimize costs for specific items and is preferred for boosting the economy, local markets often cannot consistently meet scale and quality demands due to limited local production and current macroeconomic challenges. All the ES/NFI Cluster standard response options are developed and are costed through the TWGs, including the overhead costs.

For returning migrants, while the shelter and NFI responses are tailored to the specific needs of individuals, an average cost per category was identified per population group, including males, females, children, and other vulnerable groups such as older people and persons with disability and those with medical conditions. In calculating specific activity costs, consideration was given to a number of economic factors, including recent increases in local costs of goods and services and global supply chain prices, as well as inflation and continuing fluctuation of the local currency rate. As much as possible, an integrated response will be opted for to ensure synergy and efficiency of response. Local markets will be considered to ensure cost-effectiveness, and where appropriate, cash and voucher based (CVA) interventions will be prioritized.

Food

The financial requirement for the Food Cluster is estimated based on a full cost recovery approach, which is based on the cost per metric tonnage of the commodities that are included in the standard food basket (cereals, pulses, and vegetable oil) and the projected cost of the same commodities in woredas that are feasible for cash transfers. This is used to project the cost for the 2024 HRP, which will have the resources (US$1.55 billion) required for partners to distribute in-kind food commodities or cash, conduct surveys and assessments, and monitor food response activities. Following the improvements in the food response in Ethiopia, the Food Cluster is planning to enhance support through an evidence-based approach, regular monitoring of food security situations, timely support to the most vulnerable households, and ensuring that the affected people are involved in the food response.

Health

The humanitarian health response is mainly focused on ensuring the continuity of essential health services in situations where populations are displaced due to climatic shocks or conflict. It also focuses on adequate preparedness and prompt and effective response to disease outbreaks. The major cost elements are related to the preparedness and operation of rapid response teams (RRT), mobile health and nutrition teams (MHNT), strengthening of surveillance and early warning systems, building capacity for case management, and minor rehabilitation of facilities damaged due to conflict or floods. Water quality monitoring is also an essential component of the health response.

Based on a unit cost of US$30 per beneficiary per year, US$187,335,866 is required for the 2024 HRP. Of this, 42 per cent (US$78,104,666) will cover the cost of medicines and other health supplies; the remaining 58 per cent will cover the cost of activities. For minor rehabilitation of health facilities, an additional US$2 million will be added as a lump sum.

Logistics

The operational requirements for the Logistics Cluster are estimated based on the current costs of the seven logistics and coordination hubs in Ethiopia (in Adama, Bahir Dar, Gondar, Kombolcha, Shire, Mekelle, Semera). As outlined in the cost breakdown, most of the requirements are driven by common services, such as storage and transportation. The common services are free of use to all partners that are registered organizations in Ethiopia.

  • IM & Coordination= US$1 million
  • Storage = US$3 million
  • Transport (road and freight) = US$7 million
  • UNHAS= US$7 million
  • Total = US$15 million
  • Out of which: US$9 million is for the Logistics Cluster.

However, the operational requirements could be subject to review should additional logistics gaps and needs be identified and require Logistics Cluster support.

Nutrition

Cost per child treated depends on the region, the type of modality and the cost efficiency of the implementing partner providing the full nutrition package of interventions. Economies of scale can be attained if implementing partners coverage is at woreda level and they have joint agreements with the World Health Organization (WHO), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the World Food Programme (WFP) as providers of commodities. A huge proportion of the cost of response interventions is for supply procurement (offshore or local production) and transportation. Efforts are to be deployed by main partners for enhancing end user monitoring to avoid misuse and misappropriation. The cost of assessments is also relevant as per the increased needed number and quality of representative primary data collection events. The Cluster is also undertaking nutrition surveys covering health and food security information at livelihood level, increasing the scope, sampling, and costs of data collection.

The preferred costing method for the Nutrition Cluster is based on estimating the unit cost per activity. Partners are strongly encouraged to conduct more Cost Effectiveness Analyses (CEA) for nutrition in emergency interventions in Ethiopia.

Protection

The total cost of protection activities in 2024 is US$311,746,826of which US$83,548,253 is dedicated to General Protection, US$94,544,000 for Child Protection, US$106,523,800 for GBV, US$10,353,970 for Mine Action and US$ 16,776,803 for HLP response. The cost per activity was validated in consultation with partners, compared to estimated costs used by partners in various projects during 2023 and adjusted to include increasing market prices and cost of living when appropriate.

The protection activities in the 2024 HRP have been designed to avoid duplication and reduce operational costs. While mobile interventions have the potential to reach more people at comparatively low costs, static services and partner presence must be enhanced or re-established to ensure quality service delivery, increase protection interventions in hard-to-reach areas and maximize the impact of community-level interventions. Wherever possible, the Protection Cluster and its partners will enhance an individual and family-tailored approach, to ensure the delivery of the most appropriate services to the people who need them the most.

Costs for protection activities typically cover the recruitment and deployment of experts and specialized staff, such as explosive ordnance disposal experts, social workers, case workers, psychologists, lawyers, and protection monitors, who work closely with community-based structures on a daily basis. The costs of some activities, like family tracing and reunification, legal aid and specialized psychosocial support, or explosive ordnance survey, removal, and disposal, are therefore relatively high and are often part of larger, comprehensive interventions. The estimated cost of activities which are also common to the Cluster’s Areas of Responsibilities (AoRs), such as monitoring and vulnerability screening, data collection, training or psychosocial support, and awareness raising, have been aligned with the costing methodology. Activity costs include, where appropriate, staff, transportation and support costs, the procurement of advanced technical equipment, as well as implementation in hard-to-reach areas and costs to carry out the activities for people with disabilities. Activities are expected to be completed within the ordinary HRP period (12 months).

WASH
  • The WASH Cluster response is based on the implementation of the six main WASH activities:
  • Emergency water/water trucking.
  • Durable water: Rehabilitation and maintenance of water schemes and pipeline expansion.
  • Provision/distribution of essential lifesaving WASH NFIs, including water treatment chemicals.
  • Construction of emergency latrines and bathing/hand washing facilities.
  • Sanitation and hygiene promotion.
  • WASH in institutions.

For each of these activities, the main cost drivers were identified. Unit costs per person were calculated based on the average overall cost of activities by the number of people benefiting from them in an area and timeframe.

The results are listed below:

  • Water trucking: The unit cost of water trucking is US$16/person/6- month to provide 5 liters per day, assuming that water trucking will only be done for six months with an exit strategy.
  • Durable water: The unit cost for new water points is US$48/person.
  • The unit cost for pipeline expansion of a water scheme is US$25/person.
  • The unit cost for rehabilitation and maintenance of a small water scheme is US$10/person.
  • The unit cost for rehabilitation and maintenance of a mid/large water scheme is US$25/person.
  • WASH NFIs: the unit cost of NFIs, including water treatment chemicals, was calculated at US$3 /person based on the cost of the average NFI kit.
  • Unit cost of emergency latrine construction is US$22/person with coverage of 100 people per latrine stance, assuming one block consists of 7 stances.
  • The unit cost of a handwashing facility is US$1 per person.
  • The unit cost of sanitation and hygiene messaging is US$1/person.
  • The unit cost of WASH in institutions is US$10,000/institution.