Assessment Mission: 20 May - 01 June 2003
By Dechassa Lemessa, UN OCHA-Emergencies Unit for Ethiopia
1. Introduction and background
Normally, Borana and Guji zones receive a bimodal type of rain: ganna-long rains (mid February to mid May) and hagayya-short rains (September to November) with tiny and fine rain showers in June, locally known as sorro. Timely and sufficient precipitation from the two rainy seasons is the bases for a wide variety of agricultural production in the zones.
In midland dominated woredas mixed farming - livestock herding and crop production with sedentary forms of living - is practiced (Uraga, Bore, Galana, Abayya, Bule-Hora, Qarcha, Adola and Oddo-Shakiso weredas). In most of these areas perennial crops like coffee, enset (false banana) khat (a mild narcotic plant) and various fruit crops including mango, papaya, avocado and banana are grown for sale and consumption. Sweet potato, maize and teff are the most important staple crops. In the other woredas pastoralism and agropastoralism is the predominant form of livelihood. Agropastoralists mainly grow maize, haricot bean and wheat together with other minor crops.
This year ganna rains have generally been good and have brought the amount of water necessary for good livestock condition and farming. Heavy downpours however also brought destruction of existing essential water infrastructure for human consumption, livestock rearing and agricultural production. Quick action to repair the damage is necessary to avoid serious problems during the dry season.
The mission was fielded by UN OCHA-EUE from 20 May to 01 June 2003 to Abayya, Yabello, Teltele and Dire woredas of Borana Zone and Liben, Wadera and Odo Shakiso Woredas of Guji Zone to assess the current humanitarian situation.
Focus was also given to the effects a new administrative set up which split the former Borana Zone into the two zones Borana and Guji. Key informants such as government officials at zonal and woreda levels, NGOs working in the areas visited and pastoralists and agropastoralists were contacted besides consulting secondary data sources and previous field reports of UN OCHA-EUE and other organisations.
2. Mission findings
2.1 Intense and heavy rains destroy water harvesting installations and inundate drinking water wells and ponds
The ganna rains were late by 2-3 weeks this season. In general, however, rains were plenty to very intense over the whole investigated area. The second part of April brought heavy downpours. Liben Woreda of Guji Zone, for instance received 103.6 mm of rain in a single day. As a result of the heavy and extensive rains, many traditional water points and wells, locally referred to as 'ellas' and' tulas' (a group of ellas) were inundated and filled up with silt, rocks, logs and other materials that clogged the wells so that they could not be used anymore.
Many big ponds and micro dams could not resist the heavy water pressure and bust or were seriously damaged, no longer holding back water that normally would be used during the upcoming dry season (see picture below). They were constructed by SORDU (Southern Rangelands Development Unit), a government agency, NGOs such as SC-US (Save the Children USA) and the pastoral communities themselves.
Many more ponds are still at risk and might break with the ongoing and the coming hagayya rains. Unless the damaged water harvesting dams, the wells and the ponds are quickly repaired for capturing water from the coming short rainy season, pastoral and agropastoral communities in Yabello, Teltele and Dire Woredas of Borana Zone and Liben, Wadera and Shakiso Woredas of Guji Zone may be facing critical water shortages in the coming dry seasons.
The heavy rains also damaged planted crops, essentially maize, haricot bean and wheat in the agropastoral areas of both zones. Liben and Yabello Woredas were most affected. At the end of May a hailstorm hit three kebeles (Samaro, Ase Gola and Bunate) of Abayya woreda heavily damaged maize, haricot bean (both at flowering stage), teff, coffee (at green cherry stage) and enset. A total of 635 hectares of the cited field crops were completely destroyed and no harvest is expected. The loss of maize and haricot bean is substantial for 5,708 households that have been affected and now are vulnerable.
2.2 Livestock in good condition
Thanks to the good ganna rains, the availability of pasture and water resources are good in both zones. But the fact that many water points are damaged and failed to capture water for future consumption (both for human and livestock) is a potential problem in pastoral and agropastoral areas of Borana and Guji zones.
2.3 Grain market prices increasing while livestock prices are fluctuating
Prices for cereals showed relatively high increment and for coffee there is a general increasing trend. Livestock though are fluctuating, depending on the demands from across the border to Kenya. Pastoralists and woreda officials bitterly complained that the price fluctuation is affecting the income of the people who just do not have any control on the market price of their animals.
2.4 Administrative split of former Borena Zone into Guji and Borena Zones
The former Borana Zone was administratively split into two zones in September 2003 named Borana and Guji Zones with Yabello and Negelle towns designated as zonal capitals. According to recent administrative arrangements Borana Zone has got eight woredas (Yabello, Teltele, Dire, Arero, Moyale, Galana, Abayya and Bule- Hora (formerly called Hagere Mariam) while Guji Zone has got seven woredas (Liben, Wadara, Odo Shakiso, Adola, Bore, Qarcha and Uraga).
Generally, the people in the zones considered the split as a positive development simply because it has led to reduced distances between woreda and zonal capitals. Many of the woredas are 600 km away from Negelle town, which used to be the capital of the former Borana Zone. Now the maximum distance to the administrative centres has been reduced to 200 km.
Unanimously, however, local officials at zonal and woreda level agree that the split has not yet achieved the major objective to accelerate development. Temporary constraints in information flow and exchange cause delays in the implementation of development and humanitarian activities. Problems are caused by inexperienced new staff and generally limited resources in terms of personnel, logistics and finance.
Officials in both zones acknowledged that they hardly deploy their staff to undertake field assessments to update information even on emergency and humanitarian situations, due to budgetary and logistic constraints. They also admitted that there is insufficient flow of information in their areas. This certainly leads to delayed or inadequate interventions in areas where immediate actions are necessary.
2.5 Eviction and resettlement of illegal forest settlers in Guji Zone
The regional government of Oromiya is currently handling a resettlement programme in different woredas of Guji Zone. During the last two months the government tried to resettle 1,440 households, with over 10,000 people, who illegally settled in government forests in Odo Shakiso Woreda and have lived there from one to five years. According to local officials, following the allegation, that the March 2003 forest fire that ravaged over 500 hectares was set deliberately by illegal settlers, the regional government decided to resettle these people elsewhere to stop further forest destruction.
The settlers were sent to Odo Shakiso, Wadera and Adola Woredas of Guji Zone. Unfortunately, the implementation of the resettlement operation was somehow not very well planned because basic shelter materials like plastic sheet as well as relief food were not available when the settlers arrived at their new destination. The government of Oromiya made no preparations to provide food and shelter and one month after the peasants were evicted from the forest, they had to rely on individual and personal food contributions of the Oddo Shakisso town community.
Because this particular resettlement was not well organised and executed at an ad hoc basis, people moved up to six times from one temporary sites to the next before they reached their final destination. There the kebele administration was confronted with a higher number of settler families than was initially agreed they would receive. This creates problems of land allocation in the host kebeles and tensions between the local administration and the host community.
Host communities are trying to prevent newcomers from the use of their water points and wells or plant tree seedlings in farm plots that have been allocated to settler families.
3. Conclusions and recommendations
Two years ago in 1999 and 2000 both Borana and Guji zones experienced a serious drought. It has been estimated that in 1999/2000 people in the two zones lost more than half of their livestock. Consequently, families who then had lost all or most of their productive assets are now still dependent on relief food.
Currently, the capacity of both zones is very limited and needs to be backed up, especially in terms of early warning and information gathering, synthesis and exchange so as to follow-up the food security and over all humanitarian general condition of the areas.
Immediate action is needed to repair the damaged water sources so that they are ready and functioning before the dry season starts. Even very basic tools such as shovels to re-excavate the damaged ellas are missing. The local communities are not able to do the efforts by themselves. They need assistance form outside either form the regional government or from NGOs active in the affected areas in these two zones.
The settlers that have been evicted from the forest and sent to the four woredas of Guji zone need to be supplied with basic shelter, food, health facilities, water supply, agricultural inputs such as seeds and farm tools and most important, enough land for cultivation. This is vital for them to start agricultural activities and a new livelihood.
Annex
Abbreviations
NGO: Non-Governmental-Organisation
SC-US: Save the Children Fund United States
SORDU: Southern Range lands Development Unit
UN OCHA-EUE: United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian
Affairs Emergencies Unit for Ethiopia
DISCLAIMER
The designations employed and the presentation of material in this document do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever of the UN concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries.
June, 2003
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