By Staff reporter
ADDIS ABABA – Drought threatened lives of people and livestock in Somali Regional State, sources said. According to reports by the Amharic Weekly, Reporter, of March 05/2023 issue, the drought is creeping into Dawa Zone of Somali Regional State killing livestock and sending many malnourished people to the hospital.
Deputy Chief Administrator of Dawa Zone, Mohammed Habicha told Reporter that the drought has gone beyond the capacity of the Regional State. He said our Zone is bordered by two Woredas of the Borena Zone of Oromia Regional State. Dawa Zone of Somali Region is inhabited by 700,000 pastoralists who lost many of their livestock due to inadequate rainfall received for the last three consecutive years.
Furthermore, he said that relief items have been supplied by aid organizations in collaboration with Regional Disaster Risk Management and Emergency Bureau. However, as the supply is not sufficient, the Regional government is pleading with all concerned bodies to reach out for the drought-affected people. “The Region cannot solve the problem single handedly. We need similar facilitated coordination being done at national level for drought-affected people in the bordering Zone of Borena. We call upon the Ethiopian Government and the people to reach out for us,” Mohammed said.
Moyalle, Mubarek, Kadaduma and Hudet are drought-hit Woredas in Dawa Zone. As there have never been rains in the Zone for three consecutive years, the big river, Dawa, has dried up causing heavy loss of camels and cattle including goats, he added.
“The people are highly dependent on their livestock. It is not clear how long the drought lasts. Unless the people are provided with the emergency relief supply, the catastrophe will get worse,” Mohammed said. Though there are no clear statistics that show the number of affected people, and the loss of livestock, Mohammed is reportedly well aware of the information regarding the people who have been admitted to the hospital due to malnutrition.
Last year,drought left one million livestock dead in 11 Zones of the Region. The Dawa Zone, which has not yet recovered from this impact, seems to be affected by the whirlpool of the current drought.
The drought which has reportedly killed 700,000 thousand livestock in the Borena Zone of Oromia State is feared to spread to other Regions, Reporter said.
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