Concern over impact of poor rains in Afar region

Concern is mounting over the likely long-term impact of poor rains in Ethiopia's remote Afar region, humanitarian sources in the area said on Monday. Valerie Browning, of the Afar Pastoralists Development Association, warned that critical water and food shortages were threatening both people and their livestock. Browning said she had witnessed massive livestock deaths - up to 85 percent of animals in one village - and malnutrition particularly in children under two and pregnant mothers. About 1.2 million people live in Afar, a lowland region bordering Djibouti and Eritrea, covering 270,000 sq km. The region, whose pastoral population are mainly nomadic herders living off their livestock, receives less than 200 mm of rain a year, according to government statistics. The UN World Food Programme (WFP) said its assessments had revealed dwindling pasture, causing abnormal migration of herders and their livestock into neighbouring areas. "Recent WFP field reports confirm severe water shortages, unusual migration and decreasing livestock prices, while prices for cereals and milk are increasing," said Paul Turnbull, head of WFP's emergency unit in Addis Ababa. But, he added, there were "initiatives underway to provide support to those in need, and food aid was arriving" in the area. Several international and local NGOs are active in the region. According to WFP, humanitarian assistance has been arriving in Afar for a while now and food was allocated to beneficiaries throughout 2004. Distributions were already underway for 2005. Other humanitarian sources said there were fears that migration could also fuel tensions among neighbouring ethnic groups. Serious fighting between the Afar and neighbouring Issa clans of Somali Region broke out in 2002 as both searched for pasture and water for their animals. Dubale Admasu, from Farm Africa, told IRIN that tensions were already preventing the Afar from crossing into traditional dry land pasture areas they once used in times of shortages. "The Afar used to cross the Awash River from their wet season land to dry land pasture but clashes are now preventing that," he said. The region was also hard hit in 2002/2003 when more than 12.6 million people in Ethiopia had to depend on food aid for survival. According to the government Disaster Prevention and Preparedness Commission, more than half of the cattle in Afar died, undermining its fragile local economy. Some 460,000 people are expected to receive food aid in the region, WFP said. A total of 8,500 mt is needed to assist the beneficiaries per month. Ethiopia has about seven million pastoralists in a total population of 70 million. They live mainly in Afar, Somali region in the southeast and the border regions with Kenya.