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Ethiopia

Ethiopia: Flash Update - East and West Hararge Zones, Oromia, As of 9 September 2021

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Highlights

  • The food security situation in East and West Hararge zones of Oromia continues to deteriorate following the poor performance of the 2020 meher season , the complete failure 1 of the 2021 belg crop, elevated livestock deaths and increasing cases of malnutrition. malnutrition. The Zonal Disaster Risk Management Office (DRMO) estimates that there are over 2.8 million food insecure people across both zones (nearly 40% of the total population).

  • The 2021 belg (April-June) rains were delayed for over 2 months and were followed by a dry spell from May-June 2021. This resulted in the complete failure of the belg harvest creating additional food insecurity across both zones 2 . As a result, according to the Zonal Disaster Risk Management Office (DRMO), an additional 763 ,000 people have been identified as food insecure across both zones.

  • The prolonged dry spell in May 2021 resulted in over 1,000 livestock deaths across both zones as a result of critical pasture and water shortages in addition to livestock diseases. During the months of July-August 2021 over 4,628 weather-related livestock deaths were reported from eight woredas of East Hararge , affecting the livelihood of over 25 500 individuals 3.

  • Government reports indicate a high caseload of malnutrition across both East and West Hararge zones. Severe acute malnutrition (SAM) cases in West Hararge increased by 26% from May to June 2021, and SAM cases in East Hararge increased by 22% over the same period. Widespread food insecurity, inconsistent provision of food assistance to the population (including IDPs and returnees), and the phasing out of many nutrition programs have aggravated the situation.

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