A Call for Humanitarian Assistance
Background
Severe drought across the Horn of Africa is driving widespread food insecurity due to the loss of crops, livestock, and incomes. Unless humanitarian assistance is quickly provided, the entire region – including all the pastoral lowlands of Ethiopia – will be at risk of famine. Pastoral areas of the Oromia region in Ethiopia have experienced five consecutive drought seasons (with indications a sixth is on the way), leading to a significant deterioration of lives and livelihoods.
The Borana Zone is among the most severely drought-stricken and neglected areas in Oromia where pastoralism is a mainstay for communities. Livestock is a crucial source of food and income, as well as a symbol of pride and social status for families in pastoral communities. The key inputs to livestock production, pasture, and water, are heavily dependent on rainfall conditions. The current drought in Boranas has seriously aggravated the already high levels of chronic food insecurity in pastoral and agro-pastoral communities.
Pastoralists cannot fetch a good price for their emaciated livestock, a situation rendered more difficult by the ever-increasing price of food items, fodder, and veterinary drugs. This has exacerbated already fragile livelihoods and resulted in critical food shortages and widespread malnutrition. The availability of livestock products such as milk, butter, and meat is very low, thereby affecting the availability of nutritious diets for households. Children and women are among those most severely affected.
More than 1.7 million livestock deaths have been reported in the Borana Zone, amounting to an estimated economic loss of more than 12 billion ETB ( 23,076,923 USD).
Borana Pastoralists: The future is bleak
In preparing this article, OLLAA’s staff also spoke with credible sources on the ground who are familiar with the conditions in the Borana zone. As oxen have died off in large numbers and drought continues, OLLAA’s sources shared that agro-pastoralists are increasingly hopeless about their future crop production potential. Some have been forced to rely on the manual labor of their children to compensate for the lost oxen. This lack of labor power impedes crop production and limits the food supply in local markets, thereby exacerbating food insecurity and the risk of starvation.
According to OLLAA’s sources, more than 17,000 pastoralist households have lost their entire livelihoods, assets, and livestock due to this catastrophic drought in the Borana zone. No longer able to maintain their traditional pastoral lifestyle, households are becoming destitute with no alternative livelihoods and income. They are left to face acute shortages of food and other essential items.
The majority of the pastoralist populations have been displaced from their villages and have migrated to urban and peri-urban areas, seeking alternative livelihoods, jobs, and humanitarian assistance. However, they typically lack the technical and life skills to gain employment in urban settings. After spending hours each day searching for food and water and traveling long distances, OLLAA’s source tells of mothers sleeping on empty stomachs as they prioritize feeding their children first. Because food, cash, shelter, and non-food items are immediate priority needs, these displaced pastoral communities need multi-sectoral humanitarian, recovery, and development assistance.
Despite the tremendous need for humanitarian assistance, assistance from the government and humanitarian agencies has been meager so far. Hence, this is a call for humanitarian assistance to bring the dreadful situation of the Borana pastoral community to the attention of national and global humanitarian and donor agencies.
Humanity is without borders. Let’s extend our hands to the Borana pastoralists of Ethiopia to offer our support.
Personal Testimonies
OLLAA’s Staff, Mr. Kana Golicha, was able to conduct interviews with some residents of drought-affected areas of the Borana zone, who shared their personal testimonies regarding the effects of the drought on their lives:
1. Rufo, 26, mother of four daughters
“We used to have more than 60 cows, but the drought killed them all. Our livestock was our only source of livelihood, our entire income depended on the cattle. Now I sell charcoal, not enough to guarantee us food.”
2. Qabale, 28, mother of four children
“Since we lost our cattle, I am really worried about what to feed my children. Without our cows, life is really tough. I currently have to collect firewood to sell and feed my children. Most days I don’t sell enough to buy food.”
3. Dhaki, 27, mother of four children
“The main problem we are currently facing is water access. To get water, I must walk for more than four hours. I occasionally experience sore legs as a result of the long walks.”
4. Qabale, 55, mother of four children
“Since we currently have nothing, our existence is at risk. Our sole source of income at the moment is from selling firewood, but selling firewood doesn’t meet our needs. We are in a very dire situation.”
Districts most affected by drought within the Borana Zone.
OLLAA received the following data on the districts and households most affected by drought from our source on the ground.
| 1 | Districts | Affected Households | Men | Women | Male Children | Female Children |
| 2 | Arero | 150 | 50 | 70 | 120 | 130 |
| 3 | Moyale | 200 | 60 | 55 | 130 | 135 |
| 4 | Wachile | 130 | 75 | 75 | 124 | 120 |
| 5 | Dillo | 160 | 76 | 80 | 100 | 110 |
| 6 | Teltele | 150 | 89 | 75 | 125 | 105 |
| 7 | Dubuluq | 170 | 90 | 85 | 135 | 125 |
| 8 | Guchi | 180 | 85 | 90 | 145 | 130 |
A). Arero
Arero is one of the worst affected districts in the Borana zone. According to OLLAA’s source, in Arero alone, four people lost their lives due to malnutrition-related illness a few weeks ago.
B). Dillo
Dillo district borders the Marsabit county of Kenya. Due to the drought, most of the affected pastoralists have been forced to cross over to Kenya with their livestock, and are currently sheltering in a place called Lataka. OLLAA’s source informed us that these individuals have received humanitarian assistance from the county government of Marsabit.
C). Dirre
OLLAA’s source reports that Dirre is the worst affected district in Borana Zone. Thousands of livestock have died while hundreds of civilians have been displaced. The largest IDP center is located on the outskirts of Borbor town.
D). Moyale
In the Moyale district location, Arbale is the worst affected location, according to OLLAA’s source, followed by Tuqa.
E). Teltela
In Teltela district, according to OLLAA’s source, five people have died recently. Teltale used to be one of the most productive farming districts within the zone.
F). Wachile
Wachile is one of the remote districts of the Borana Zone and borders the Somali region of Ethiopia. Most of the residents here depend on livestock for their livelihoods. OLLAA’s source has reported that more than two hundred thousand livestock have died since June 2022.
D). Guchi
The Guchi district is mostly dominated by Gabra Oromos, who predominantly keep camels and goats. Camels are known to be a beast of the desert, but not even they have managed to survive these conditions. According to our source, the community has lost more than five hundred thousand goats and camels in one year alone due to prolonged drought
Food and other items required to save the lives of the communities in the above locations:
According to community members interviewed by OLLAA, the following food items are required in large quantities to save the lives of community members in the above-mentioned districts: rice, beans, flour, cooking oil, corn flour, and nutritional oats. Due to malnutrition, medicines are also required in large quantities.
Conclusion
The above report highlights some of the key issues concerning the devastating drought situation in the Borana zone. However, more investigation should be carried out to establish a fuller picture of the circumstances on the ground. OLLAA calls for humanitarian assistance from all those able to give, both in Ethiopia and outside Ethiopia.
