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allAfrica.com: Ethiopia: Urban Poor Finding It Harder to Get Food (Page 1 of 2)

allAfrica.com: Ethiopia: Urban Poor Finding It Harder to Get Food (Page 1 of 2)
Addis Ababa

Fatuma Ali and Tieba Hussein left Hara village in Wollo, Amhara region of northeastern Ethiopia with some of their neighbours, believing that they could improve their livelihoods in the capital city, Addis Ababa.

"Our husbands decided to stay in the village with the children," Fatuma, a mother of three, told IRIN as her sister and mother of one looked on. "If rain comes, we will return to the village."

Like various villages across Ethiopia, Hara did not receive adequate precipitation in the short, or belg rainy season, which usually begins in February and ends in late April or early May.

As a result, local residents have had to endure serious food and water shortages. The situation was exacerbated by a poor harvest from the 2007 meher growing season.

Fatuma and Tieba worked hard to help their husbands try and get a good harvest. "After harvest, we sold the produce in the market and bought cattle," Tieba said.

Unfortunately, the short rains failed, killing the village pasture as well as their cattle.

Two weeks after arriving in the city, however, life for the two sisters proved just as tough as it was in Hara. "We came to Addis Ababa expecting to get [a better life]," Fatuma explained. "Sometimes the residents give us some food, but sometimes we sleep hungry."

Faced by increasing hardship, the two turned to begging. Moving from door-to-door, they often turn up at people's gates and ask for help. On a lucky day, they will barely get enough to eat.

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