The Somali region of south-eastern Ethiopia is facing critical food and water shortages, with many families eating only one meal a day and others migrating to urban areas, the UN and aid agencies said.
As a result, malnutrition levels are increasing, especially in Korahe, Warder, Degehabur, Gode, Fiiq and parts of Liben and Afder zones, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), reported.
"Concerns are growing about the potential exacerbation of existing drought conditions as the Karan [July-September] rains in Jijiga and Shinile zones are [close to failing]," OCHA said on 15 September.
"Immediate interventions in food, income and livelihood protection support, feed and water supply are among priority responses identified by the regional DPPB [Disaster Prevention and Preparedness Bureau]."
The Somali region has experienced successive rainfall failure in recent years. In the southern areas, livelihoods have also been affected by conflict between the government and the rebel Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF).
Aid workers say the conflict has disrupted trade, transport and social services, and hampered humanitarian access. Médecins Sans Frontières Switzerland (MSF-Swiss) recently withdrew from the region, saying repeated administrative hurdles and intimidation had prevented the provision of medical care to vulnerable people in Fiiq.
The government, which has previously cited insecurity in the region, denied the MSF-Swiss claims. The NGO, it suggested, might instead have had its "own double agenda".
More recently, access to vulnerable populations has improved, with more NGOs being allowed to operate in the region, according to OCHA. But the ONLF disputes this and insists the situation remains grim.
"The Ethiopian [government] continues to severely restrict humanitarian assistance to our people while using what little food aid that gets through as a political weapon aimed at collectively our villagers and nomads," the rebels said on 15 September.
Last year, Human Rights Watch said both the government and rebels were responsible for atrocities in the remote region. "There are no clean hands among the hostile parties in the Ogaden conflict," it said, adding that its researchers had documented serious abuses of civilians, including summary executions by the ONLF.
 Photo: IRIN  |
This year, the "gu" [mid-April to June] rains performed poorly throughout the region, leading to widespread water and pasture shortages, and affecting crops in agro-pastoral and riverine areas.
Rains started three to four weeks late in Jijiga and Shinile zones, and not at all in other areas. But halfway through the season, the rains ceased in some parts of the region.
"The overall prospect for gu crop production is a total failure in all parts of the region," according to the regional Disaster Prevention and Preparedness Agency. Presenting preliminary findings of a July assessment at a meeting in Jijiga, the agency noted significant livestock deaths in Gode, Shinile, Jijiga and Warder Zones because of lack of pasture and water.
"Huge livestock migrations driven by feed and water scarcity have been seen since mid-May 2008," it said. "These migrations have created huge concentrations into the few districts and pocket areas that currently have some pasture as a result of better rains during May.
"The migrations are very unusual from the point of distance (50-250km) and scale as they involve the largest number of animals in the last seven years. In many areas these also include entire household movements, which is [also] unusual."
Throughout the region, food prices have sharply increased due to limited cereal supplies. Many water ponds and seasonal streams have dried up.
"The overall food security situation in 49 districts of the region is much below normal," the agency said, adding that more people were expected to face food deficits over the six months between July and December. School drop-out rates have risen because of food shortages.
 There is a need to speed up the arrival of food aid |
"We need to give it special attention in the months to come," Holmes said in Addis Ababa on 3 September. "There is a need to speed up the arrival of food aid and to make sure that this has been distributed in the most effective and equitable way possible."
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