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There is little doubt that a humanitarian crisis
is looming in Ethiopia but with all attention
focused on the Southern African drought, people
in this neglected desert region, feel forgotten
and abandoned – not only by their
government but by the world.
(BBC)
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AYELU aims to provide help and support to the most impoverished and malnourished in Ethiopia, mainly in the Afar Region (see map to the left).
The Afar region is one of the 9 states of Ethiopia. It is located in the Northeast, sharing international borders with Eritrea and Djibouti. It covers an estimated area of 270,000 square kilometres. The Afar people, approximately 1.3 million are predominantly Muslim (96%), 3.86% are Orthodox Christians, 0.43% Protestants and 0.09% Catholics.
The Afar people occupy some of the most inhospitable terrain in the world. Natural conditions characterised with persisting drought in parts of Afar Region, as well as seasonal uncontrolled flooding along the Awash river represent a major draw back for the Afar economy, which is based on pastoralists’ livestock sales and agricultural production.
If Ethiopia is among the four poorest countries in the world, the Afar region is the poorest and least developed Regions of Ethiopia, neglected by national development efforts. It is only in recent years that efforts have been undertaken to provide basic infrastructure such as roads, education and basic health services.
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Afar Pastoralists showing Mr M. Saleh (The Late Chairman of AYELU - may God have mercy on his soul) the remains of their livestock as a result of the drought.
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The Afar people are pastoralists. Their life depends on the quality and quantity of their livestock and its products, which is interrelated with the availability of pasture, water and livestock health. Both water and natural pasture are becoming insufficient, especially during the drought period.
Some of the principal causes that hinder the pastoralists’ production system of the Afar Society are:
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Shortage of water, i.e. low rainfall, high run-off, high evaporation and recurring drought. The Afar pastoralists have to walk 10 - 15 miles per day to get water for themselves and their livestock. Last year hundreds of people and thousands of livestock died because of the drought. Carcases could be seen alongside the roads in the pastoralist areas.
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The grazing areas productivity is also very low due to vegetation type and drought. Irrigation of grazing land and constitution of fodder reserve for the cattle during the dry season is not practiced among the Afar pastoralists.
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The pastoralists’ economy itself is also a problem, overstocking means overgrazing which destroys the natural vegetation and produces desertification. In parallel, lack of better animal husbandry, cattle fattening practices through ranching and insufficient veterinary care has endangered the outlet of cattle market in the Afar region.
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All these factors along with the fast growing population aggravate the poor life conditions and famine in this community.
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Drought and the absence of any infrastructure to make use of rain water mean that about three quarters of a million people are in danger in the Afar region alone.
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General water stress in all zones of Afar Region (UN)
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The main problem is not only the drought, but the fact that when heavy rains arrive there are no dams to hold water so it dissipates into the ground. There are no channels to direct the water to where it is most needed.
Pastoralists there depend on water-trucking services offered by the government, but even these are threatened by budget consideration. With limited permanent water sources, people migrate after this vital resource and the possibility of settling, education, and health care dries up with the water.
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The typical profile of an unhealthy and malnourished Ethiopian pastoralist child.
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According to a UN report published in 2002, human health has always been a problem in the Afar Region, having one of the highest child mortality rates in the country, inextricably linked to the lack of medical facilities and the lack of qualified and trained local personnel.
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Basic human health facilities still lacking and tuberculosis is a serious problem (UN)
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The most common diseases are water borne, with diarrhoea and conjunctivitis as examples. Pneumonia and tuberculosis are endemic and the prevalence of HIV/AIDS is high, especially in areas near to the border with Eritrea.
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An Afar woman building a hut (the traditional family home for the Afar Pastoralists).
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If poverty in the pastoral areas is the worst kind of deprivation, the condition is even worse for pastoral women.
Division of work in the pastoralists' society is gender specific. Fetching water is the responsibility of women, this task becomes arduous, particularly when there is no rainfall for a considerable period of time and when water holding points or rivers get dry.
Collecting firewood is another chore that women do, which is not an easy task considering the recently accelerated degradation of soil and deforestation in these areas. Women are also responsible for such tasks as building the traditional hut, caring for children, preparing food, looking after small animals, leaving the men to look after the cattle, market the livestock, control the property and money that belong to the family.
This division of work besides other cultural and traditional values such as the harmful practice of female circumcision endangers women's health and marginalizes their role. The maternal mortality rate among the Afar women is the highest in the world, besides a very low rate of school enrolment of women.
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