Food shortages to persist in the south

The drought-related food shortages in areas of southern Ethiopia will continue for much of this year mainly due to erratic rainfall, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) said. The affected areas are the Somali Region and parts of the Oromiya Region. WFP said livestock herds decimated or weakened by the lack of pasture and water in these areas would also take time to recover. "There has been a mixed rainfall pattern in the region, but what also prolongs the need for emergency food assistance is the fact that those predominantly affected are pastoralists, who depend on livestock for their livelihoods," said Paulette Jones, the WFP spokeswoman in Ethiopia. "Drought-affected livestock require time to recover sufficiently enough to provide milk and to produce offspring. It is not simply whether the rains are good or bad that prolongs an emergency situation in pastoralist areas, but other issues such as the health of livestock, the availability of pasture, and so on, need to be taken into account," she added. A separate WFP food emergency report for July said the Borena zone would receive virtually no harvest after the poor main 'genna' rainy season. "The effects of the poor recent rains are now beginning to be felt by the population. Pastures, especially for the grazers, are becoming scarce and water tanking operations are likely to be required from mid-August in some of the areas now experiencing sharp declines in water availability," according to the report. A government-led mid-year harvest assessment has just been completed. Estimates of the number of people still in need of food assistance until the end of this year will be based on the outcome of that assessment. Jones said the WFP would assess its resources to determine whether these would be sufficient to respond to the emergency in Somali and Oromiya regions, based on the figures the government would provide. jn/mw/eo