PASTORAL HARDSHIPS IN THE SOMALI REGION

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ADDIS ABABA 002483 SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PHUM PGOV EAID ECON ET SUBJECT: PASTORAL HARDSHIPS IN THE SOMALI REGION REF: ADDIS 1823 -------------- Summary -------------- ¶1. (SBU) In an August 8 - 14 visit to Filtu district in the Somali region, PolOff examined the effects of regional drought on food security, livelihoods, conflict, and populations movements. Filtu district remains hard hit by continued drought conditions, pasture overgrazing, lack of a livestock market, failed crop production, and escalating food prices. The little rain it did receive attracted pastoralists from adjacent regions and Kenya, further taxing its limited resources. Common diseases among people and livestock exist but there appear to be no outbreaks thus far. The USAID funded Productive Safety Net Program (PSNP) has helped stem food insecurity but a lack of additional food relief threatens to undermine PSNP's long-term success. Water scarcity looms large for the Ayinne and Kulay communities and if anticipated seasonal rains fail again, the district will require immense water rationing and distribution. PolOff also visited two internally displaced person (IDP) camps. IDPs suffer from serious hunger and malnutrition and a child mortality rate of two per day out of an overall IDP population of 7,000 (as told by IDP leaders). No Ethiopian military movements or presence was observed in the area visited despite the road being a major military artery into and out of Somalia. End Summary. ¶2. (SBU) PolOff accompanied a USAID mission to Filtu district in the Somali region from 8 August 2008 to 14 August 2008. Participants included the Chief of USAID's Office of Assets and Livelihood Transition (USAID/ALT),the Senior Program Manager for USAID/ALT, and staff from the Government of Ethiopia (GoE) Food Security Coordination Bureau and the World Bank. The purpose of the trip was to monitor and assess the USAID funded Productive Safety Net Program (PSNP) as piloted in Somali pastoral areas, while also observing broader political and economic issues related to drought, conflict, population movements, and livelihoods. PolOff held meetings with USAID partners Pastoralists Concern Association Ethiopia (PCAE) and Save the Children US (SC-US),district officials on the Filtu Woreda Food Security Task Force (WFSTF),internally displaced persons (IDP),and community leaders in Ayinne and Kulay towns. -------------- "Better Off" is Relative in Filtu Woreda -------------- ¶3. (SBU) Filtu woreda (district) is located in the southwest corner of the Somali region, in some places only a few kilometers from the Kenya and Somalia borders. It hosts 38 kebeles (towns) and an estimated 170,000 people, though some woreda officials say it is now closer to 200,000, of whom about 85 percent are pastoralists. Unlike some places in Ethiopia, there is no "green famine" (Reftel) here - the land is brown from water scarcity, overgrazing, and overall drought conditions. Woreda officials also expect no single crop production this cycle, largely due to army worm infestations and poor rain. Still, Filtu is "better off" than other adjacent districts as it at least received some seasonal rains so far this year. However, Filtu has faced a large influx of outside pastoralists and their livestock (including from Hargelle; Dolo Bay; Dolo Ado; Mandera, Kenya; and Ramo, Kenya),overburdening Filtu's limited watersources and pastures. WFSTF officials outlined Filtu's four major challenges: continued drought, overgrazed pastures, no livestock market, and failed crop production. Town leaders in Kulay repeated these woes and added the rise of food stock prices to the list. A WFSTF health official reported no outbreaks or pandemics and said community health was "normal" (i.e. cases of malaria, diarrhea, influenza, TB, malnutrition) but he expected it to worsen if the drought continued. Finally, WFSTF officials said their biggest needs in the near-term were additional water tankering, food and medical treatment for ailing livestock, and nutrition assistance. -------------- PSNP-PAP Program and Food Relief Woes -------------- ADDIS ABAB 00002483 002 OF 003 ¶4. (SBU) The Productive Safety Net Program - Pastoral Area Pilot (PSNP-PAP) targets the most destitute to help alleviate chronic food insecurity in four Somali Region districts (including Filtu). The USG is the largest donor to the overall GoE multi-donor PSNP fund and contributes through implementing partner SC-US in Filtu. PSNP-PAP serves a total of 21,590 people in Filtu with 5,398 as direct food beneficiaries and the rest performing labor based public works programs for food. Woreda officials say the public works program has worked well in Filtu (e.g. the officials noted the program has built 150km of dirt road, 10 toilets, 5 community stores, and 2 mill houses),but the paucity of water makes work programs nearly impossible now. Pastoralists Concern Association Ethiopia (PCAE) credits PSNP as the main reason the "situation (in Filtu) is stable so far." Town and district officials emphasized that the biggest PSNP-PAP challenge is choosing beneficiaries, as there are clearly more people in need than the current beneficiary level suggests. (Note: Beneficiary levels are ultimately set by the GoE and must be agreed to by district officials as a precondition to relief flows. End note). Ayinne town leaders said PSNP-PAP food relief consistently failed to meet overall community food needs but beneficiaries still chose to share their food sources with non-beneficiaries, diluting the amount per person. Woreda officials said one town even told them that "if you can't bring increased PSNP targets, please don't come to our kebele." Filtu falls within the federal relief plan but, officials say, despite their two appeals for emergency food relief in April and June, there has been no other food relief outside of the PSNP-PAP program. If true, such a scenario severely undermines Ethiopia's PSNP programs which are designed to build long-term food security and not act as an acute emergency relief program. -------------- Water Scarcity: A Tale of Two Ponds -------------- ¶5. (SBU) Water scarcity topped most officials' list of the most critical challenges facing the district. Woreda officials say nine kebeles are now under water rationing regimes (i.e. water tanked in) paid for by the woreda until NGOs can help assist. PolOff also observed about a half-dozen, unfinished water towers which NGOs said the GoE was constructing around Filtu district to pipe in water from the Dawa River. PolOff visited two artificial water ponds in Kulay and Ayinne townships designed to capture seasonal rains for dry season use. The Kulay pond was a dirt hole stretching about 40 meters by 30 meters and the sole water source for the Kulay townspeople. Hundreds of camels, cattle, goats, sheep, and donkeys queued on its banks while others waded directly into the pond, indicating a lack of hygiene control (human water-borne illnesses were reported). Local leaders said it was the over-migration of pastoralists from other areas that really hurt them and that, at the current rate, the pond would dry up within two weeks, forcing them to move their families to the Dawa River roughly 65 kilometers away. The Ayinne pond, on the other hand, was concrete and about three times the size. It had far better hygiene control as no animals or bathing were allowed in it and people de-shoed before entering. There was also ongoing onsite construction of a silt-filter, a well, an additional pond, and long entrapment channels. Locals at both ponds reported no resource-driven conflicts, saying that as pastoralists they must help each other. However, if the short September/October rains do not arrive, some NGOs say this "will be a disaster" and would likely lead to heightened tensions among people. -------------- Livestock: Condition and Pastures -------------- ¶6. (SBU) With pastoralists making up 85 percent of Filtu district, livestock are the literal lifeblood of this area. Cross-regional and cross-border livestock migrations have led to chronic overgrazing in Filtu district. Poor rains and army worm infestations have further damaged pastures despite some successful pasture reclamation efforts by PCAE. Woreda officials say common livestock diseases are present but with no serious outbreaks. However, officials and NGOs worry that further drought will increase the risk of disease spread ADDIS ABAB 00002483 003 OF 003 among migrating livestock while also further exposing them to starvation. According to district officials, 46 camels, 102 cattle, 468 goats/sheep, and 13 donkeys have already died in the past two months from starvation, dehydration, or disease. Almost all cattle observed looked emaciated with bones showing. -------------- Livestock Markets and Trade -------------- ¶7. (SBU) Escalating food prices and the virtual absence of livestock markets are taking a heavy toll on Filtu residents. Pastoralists and officials alike said there was virtually "no livestock market" due to oversupply, meager demand, and fear of a worsening drought. PolOff visited two USAID funded livestock market facilities in Filtu and Ngele where the few pastoralists present confirmed a severely diminished livestock trade. A local comparison is the exchange rate of goats to 50kg of sorghum or other cereals. When compared to last year, district and town officials say that the price of 50kg of sorghum jumped over 400 percent to 300 birr (USD 30) while the price of a goat dropped 65 percent to below 90 birr (USD 9). This has adversely impacted the local population's buying power for basic food stuffs. On the positive side, a USAID funded women's cooperative in Ayinne produces incense destined for Italy and has become a source of savings for their impoverished community. More broadly, trade goods in the Filtu district stream in from Somalia and Kenya (both commercial and smuggled) and include sugar, pasta, rice, sorghum, hygiene products, and other personal goods. -------------- IDP Populations -------------- ¶8. (SBU) PolOff visited two internally displaced persons (IDP) camps within the Filtu Woreda: Sora and Deka. The Sora IDPs are nearing a humanitarian crisis. About seven months ago, they fled conflicts over pasture and water resources from Kersa Dulla in the Oromiya region that followed a recent land referendum. They settled on the River Genale and have a population of about 7,000, according to IDP leaders. The IDPs have no visible livestock (saying all died or were looted) or agricultural means, virtually no food, and they report eating tree roots or sugar water for sustenance. Leaders say food assistance arrived only once since their arrival (last May) and PolOff observed symptoms of severe malnutrution in adults and children including marasmus (e.g. skinny arem and legs, skeletal look, bloated belly, sagging buttocks) and kwashiorshor (e.g. round moon face and edema). The woreda health assistant stationed there reported six child deaths in the two days with "a minimum of two kids daily." These deaths continue with Mercy Corps reporting seven child deaths around August 26 when they visited. Mercy Corps also said about 1,000 IDPs returned to Kersa Dulla but those IDPs PolOff interviewed said they did not believe they could do so. USAID is working with NGOs, WFP, and the GoE to provide immediate targeted relief to Sora. The second IDP camp, Deka, is settled along the main Filtu road. They are comparably better off than IDPs in Sora, likely due to their proximity to the road and petty commerce, but they suffer from food and water shortages. They say they are 700 Degodi clan Somalis who arrived between 4-12 months ago after fleeing conflict in the Guji and Bale zones of Oromiya region. They were mostly agriculturalists but now sell roadside charcoal as their primary means of income. -------------- No Military Movement -------------- ¶9. (SBU) The road from Addis Ababa to Filtu district is one of two main military arteries for the Ethiopian National Defense Force (ENDF) to move in and out of Somalia. PolOff observed no military movements along the road to Filtu and locals also said there had been no recent military presence in Filtu or its surrounding areas. There was only a large but unoccupied training barracks about 20 kilometers outside of Ngele heading toward Filtu. YAMAMOTO