Ethiopia - Situation Report, 9 Oct 2023

HIGHLIGHTS

• Drought-like conditions in parts of Amhara, Tigray, and Afar, with alarming malnutrition in parts of Afar and Amhara regions;

• Desert Locust infestation a major threat to food security in Afar, Amhara, Dire Dawa, Oromia, Somali and Tigray;

• Water trucking for some 184,033 people amid growing water needs in Amhara, Somali, Tigray and southern regions;

• Close to 458,000 people in Tigray assisted with food, in August, as part of piloting assurance and control measures for food aid to reach the intended people;

• At 2.09 million cases, the malaria peak season (September – December) requires enhanced response readiness and scale-up.

Situation Overview

Food insecurity in the country remains of concern. Results of mid-year assessments will provide estimates and targeting for continued response for ongoing and evolving emergencies including food.

Drought like conditions persist in Afar, Amhara, Somali and Tigray regions with a severe impact on crop production, livestock health, and households’ (HHs) access to water, while malnutrition rates above emergency threshold are reported in parts of Afar and Amhara regions. The desert locust infestation in parts of Afar, Amhara, Somali and Tigray, further aggravates the risk of food insecurity. This is expected to worsen in low-lying areas of Ethiopia affected by floods and those at risk due to forecasted above-normal rains from October – December in the south and southeastern parts of the Country. The convergence of these shocks with the expansion of disease outbreaks, such as cholera, malaria, measles and leishmaniasis is further deepening vulnerability of the affected communities, including internally displaced persons (IDPs) and returnees. These shocks are occurring in a context of vast unaddressed pre-existing humanitarian needs from previous hostilities, drought and floods. Meanwhile, humanitarian access is constrained due to ongoing hostilities in Amhara and parts of Oromia regions.

Desert Locust (DL) infestation is a major threat to food security in the region. In July 2023, DL were reported in Afar and Tigray, in August 2023, where immature swarms were spotted moving in western Afar near the eastern escarpments of Amhara and Tigray. To date, an area of approximately 230,218 hectares has been surveyed and Desert Locusts have infested about 25,154 hectares in Afar, Amhara, Dire Dawa, Oromia, Somali and Tigray. Currently, ground and aerial survey has been extended to cover southeastern Ethiopia including eastern Oromia, Dire Dawa and the Siti zone in the Somali Region. The moving swarms have mostly been in forested and hard-to-reach terrains. Application of aerial control is limited, undertaken on 180 hectares out of the 25,154 hectares, to date. If the infestation remains uncontrolled, the immature swarms are active flyers and feeders, posing a threat to crops and natural pastures in Afar, Amhara and Tigray with a high risk of invading southeastern Ethiopia where winter breeding takes place.

Currently, more than 184,000 people are provided with water through trucking across Tigray, Somali, Amhara, and southern regions. Attributed to inadequate and poor distribution of rains, and lack of repair and rehabilitation of water sources damaged during the March – May floods which also destroyed water communities natural water harvesting and storage infrastructures, the need for water trucking is growing. For instance, only 48 out of 99 sites with estimated 254,000 people are served by water trucking in Somali’s Korahe Zone while some 77,000 persons across 37 locations in Dawa Zone need water assistance as of first week of October. Priorities are repair and maintenance of the damaged water schemes, which include berkads, ponds, haffier and dams.