In order to follow up the activities of Center for Development Initiatives (CDI), a team composed of three people, one from OA and two from CDI staff, has traveled to Siraro Woreda. The objectives of the field visit were:
- to ascertain the acquisition of the supplementary food
- to observe the distribution of the supplementary food to the children
- to see the organization and management of the supplementary food
- to assess and discuss with government officials about the drought situation in the Woreda
- to participate in "Enset (falls banana) for Food Security" workshop jointly organized by CDI and Awasa Agricultural Collage.
The supplementary food, which was delayed because of power interruptions and high demands for famix, has finally been obtained, transported and stored. The supplementary food includes 135 quintals of famix and 5850 liters of edible oil. The purpose is to feed about 1000 children for three months (August, September and October) whose families have been highly affected by the drought and could not keep their children in the school.
The supplementary food was stored in two places. One is in the Aje Elementary School and the second one in the newly built Kerensa Elementary School. Teachers, elders and CDI staff were active and responsible for handling and equal distribution of the food. The food was distributed in two centers (Aje and Kerensa) for children who came from government, CDI and religious (Madrasas) schools. 385 children from Aje and 410 from Kerensa were able to get the first round distribution. According to the CDI plan, the food will be distributed twice a month for three months. One child will get 1liter of oil and 2.5kilos of famix for fifteen days. As we observed, however, the distribution committee in Kerensa was distributing differently from Aje and CDI's proposed plan. That is 2liters of oil and 5kgs of famix for one child for one month. They gave us the reason of saving time, spillage, rain, storage or space, etc. for distribution of this supplementary food once instead of twice in one month.
The group also had an opportunity to see the distribution of maize to about three thousand people in Aje town and talk to officials about the drought situation. The Woreda representatives from the Ministry of Agriculture, DPPC, and Woreda Administration were distributing the maize from the DPPC store. According to the DPPC official, CCF purchased the maize from the local market and donated to DPPC for the people of Siraro Wereda/District. The official was also concerned that after distributing the remaining stock for the other three peasant associations, there would be no grain left for the last four peasant associations that are highly affected. He mentioned that he has already reported about the shortage and its consequences to the government (DPPC), CCF and other donors and is waiting for their responses and guidelines on what to do about the situation. He also asked the Director of CDI to immediately look for one thousand quintals of maize or wheat to reach about 1500 households that are in critical food shortage in two peasant associations.
Generally there is critical food shortage in Siraro District. CCF and CDI have donated about 100MT of grain. However, it was insufficient to reach all affected households.
The general situation is promising as maize is growing to full length. If there is rain for the coming two or three weeks, the peasants will feed themselves and their families, and there would be no distribution of rations needed. The concern and the challenge that officials and CDI are now facing is how to keep these people alive and strong for the coming three to four weeks until they can stand on their own feet and be free of food aid.
The "Enset (falls banana) for Food Security" workshop was organized by CDI and Awasa Agricultural College. The objective of the workshop was to bring to the attention of the peasants the importance of Enset or Warqee for food security, nutritional value and environmental sustainability. The workshop was facilitated by the researcher who has done extensive study on Enset. 51 trainees from peasant associations, women-producer groups, cooperatives, development agents from CDI and extention agents from the Ministry of Agriculture participated in the workshop.
The research was enriched by the local knowledge of the participants and the findings the research also added up to the existing knowledge of the community. Participants were trained in the field how to establish their own nurseries and raise Enset economically in a small plot of land.
According to our observations, this training has to be replicated in other food insecurity areas and Enset to be given more consideration and regard by the government and NGOs in their efforts to alleviate hunger and poverty.
The Borena Rangeland
According to the recent report from our partners, Action for Development, Woreda DPPC, and the Ministry of Agriculture, the situation in the lowlands of Borena is getting worse rather than improving. The rain has stopped before the seeds, which were sown in April and May, have been able to ripen. All improved seeds (haricot beans, maize and sorghum), which were purchased through Oxfam American funding and planted on demonstration sites and community land and had looked promising in the months of May and June, are devastated by insufficient rain in the area.
Water
The Oxfam America (OA) boreholes and hand pumps are still the only source of potable water for people in the area. At present, all ponds (OA funded) have sufficient water to meet livestock and human needs for the coming two months. There should be rain at least in October to refill these ponds. Otherwise, the same drought situation will prevail again, causing more damage to the environment, human life, and livestock.
Food supply
CARE, GOAL and SOS Sahile are the NGOs involved in food rationing in the area.
CARE
CARE declared that it has been continuously distributing dry rations and supplementary food in three Woredas, and it has confirmed that it has enough stock to distribute until December. After December, CARE's intentions are not known. CARE was distributing wheat (12.5kgs/head/month), edible oil (2lts/hh/month), and Fafa (Famix) (3.6kg/hh/month) for 49,000 people until July and will continue with the same amount up to December.
GOAL
GOAL was distributing Fafa, dry rations, and human medicine for about 20,000 people. GOAL has declared that it would stop after the end of August.
SOS Sahil
SOS was distributing maize (12.5kg/head/month), (4.5lit/hh/month) and soybeans (5kgs/hh/month) for 25,000 people. They have declared that aid will stop at the end of August.
Generally, the livestock situation is improving and there is enough water in the ponds. There is about 90% crop failure, and the continuity of the relief aid is questionable. There would be critical food shortage for 26,000 people in September-October, and unless the rain situation improves, more than 75,000 will fall back to the present situation and need food and water supply from December 2000 - May 2001.
Peace
Peace is the concern of all Oxfams and other NGOs working in the lowlands of Borena and Somali Regional States. In order to address this pressing concern and issue, OA has taken the first initiative, and financed RCCHE, a local NGO, to study and look for how to bring about peace in the area. RCCHE has already dispatched a group to undertake a situation analysis and preliminary study. We will report the progress of this effort in our harmonization meetings, and we will ask all the necessary support and cooperation from each Oxfam for the successful accomplishment of this endeavor.