Drought yet again hit the Somali Region and affected different woredas in the hardest hit Dawa zone, according to regional officials as well as residents. The crisis led to displacement and continues to threaten a humanitarian crisis.
Although many areas in the region are affected by the prolonged drought, the Dawa zone has been affected the most. Dawa zone borders and shares Moyale as an administrative center with the Borana zone of the Oromia regional state, another area affected badly by drought and is mostly inhabited by pastoral and agro-pastoral communities.
This prolonged drought could be attributed to a below-average rainfall during this year’s rainy season, which in turn damaged grazing lands and caused a shortage of water. People in the region lack access to safe drinking water, and are unable to meet their basic needs due to loss of livestock which remains a main source of income to many in the zone and region as a whole.
Addis Standard spoke to some residents of the zone, the likes of Faysal who lives near the zone’s administrative center Moyale (went by his first name only) who said, “We suffered a lot due the unavailability of water. I think we lost Three or Four of our cattle. How much my community lost, I am not sure but it is very bad that I had to relocate to an area where there is water. Even there, scarcity of water is becoming a very serious issue for us Somalis.”
Ali Abdi, is another resident of the zone who shares Faysal’s experience. He recently moved to the regional capital Jigjiga. He told Addis Standard, “The situation is very bad down there, our community like that of the Borana is losing livestock.” Ali explained that many opted to move to the big cities in both Oromia and Somali regions.
A report published on November 01, 2021 in a collaboration between the zonal administration and aid agencies, said that 95% of all kebeles are being supported by water trucks due to the dry up of water sources, a total of 47,215 livestock perished and 62,960 people are in need of immediate assistance.
Source:https://addisstandard.com/analysis-drought-in-somali-region-hits-hardest-in-dawa-zone-kills-thousands-of-livestock-threaten-a-humanitarian-crisis/
