Skip to main content

Reuters AlertNet - ETHIOPIA: Outlook bleak for pastoral regions as crops fail

Reuters AlertNet - ETHIOPIA: Outlook bleak for pastoral regions as crops failReuters and AlertNet are not responsible for the content of this article or for any external internet sites. The views expressed are the author's alone.
NAIROBI, 29 July 2008 (IRIN) - The humanitarian situation in Ethiopia's pastoral regions of Afar, Amhara, Somali and Tigray is likely to deteriorate because seasonal crops have failed and livestock numbers have fallen, according to preliminary findings of a recent assessment mission.

Widespread crop failure had led to critical food insecurity, prompting increased migration, the findings of the Disaster Prevention and Preparedness Agency (DPPA)-led multi-agency mission show.

In Somali Region, the assessment found water was scarce, high livestock deaths had affected herd sizes and more cases of malnutrition were being admitted for treatment in several zones. Without immediate humanitarian assistance, the number of needy could increase.

"Terms of trade continue to be against pastoralists, forcing them to sell two/three goats for 50kg of sorghum," according to the preliminary findings reported by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) on 28 July.

In Tigray, the numbers in need had dramatically increased due to the failure of belg (short rains) output. "The region received only 1.9 percent production from the planned estimate," it said. "Price increases have affected all wealth groups. Critical water shortage has been reported in five lowland areas of Raya Azabo and Alamata woredas."

The situation in Amhara was equally serious, with livestock in poor condition in the highlands of North and South Wollo and North Shoa zones, and increases of 200-300 percent in the price of staple foods.

Despite the worsening situation, the aid pipeline faced shortages. According to the UN World Food Programme (WFP), the national shortfall was 153,000MT, valued at US$124 million. WFP's own resources remained insufficient to meet requirements.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Israeli school segregated Ethiopian students » Ethiopian Review

Israeli school segregated Ethiopian students » Ethiopian Review : "The placement of four Ethiopian girls in a separate class from their peers at a Petah Tikva grade school has sparked accusations of segregation on Tuesday morning following a report in Yediot Aharonot. According to ‘Hamerhav’ principal, Rabbi Yeshiyahu Granvich, complete integration of the girls was impossible. The reason being, said municipal workers, was that the students were not observant enough, nor did their families belong to the national-religious movement that the school was founded upon. Among the differences in the daily school life of the girls, a single teacher was responsible to teach them all of their subjects. Worse yet, the four were allotted separate recess hours and were driven to and from school separately. Such action has been labeled by observers as “apartheid.”"

Iraqi weapons 'expert' unmasked as a fraud - Independent Online Edition > Americas

Iraqi weapons 'expert' unmasked as a fraud - Independent Online Edition > Americas : "The Iraqi defector whose claims regarding Saddam Hussein's biological warfare capabilities were central to the US government's case for the 2003 invasion, despite repeated warnings that they were dubious, has been unmasked by a television documentary. The informer, codenamed Curveball was Rafid Ahmed Alwan who, in 1999, turned up at a refugee centre in Germany seeking political asylum. He went on to convince the Pentagon he was a brilliant chemist who had helped develop mobile biological warfare laboratories."

FT.com / UK - Al-Jazeera journalists become faces of the frontline

FT.com / UK - Al-Jazeera journalists become faces of the frontline : "Ayman Mohyeldin was in a coffee shop joking with colleagues in Gaza City when the first Israeli bomb struck, smashing into a police station just a short distance from where they were sitting. The tremors from the explosion shook the café, but it took a few minutes for the reality to sink in - Gaza was under attack. Since that moment 18 days ago, Mr Mohyeldin and his colleagues at al-Jazeera English, the satellite channel, have worked day and night, providing 24-hour coverage of the Israeli offensive in Gaza and the humanitarian crisis it has triggered. Donning a helmet and a flak jacket, Mr Mohyeldin has become one of the faces of the war, delivering calm and balanced analysis of the chaos and destruction going on around him in a soft American accent."