A man in Borena feeding his cattle. Image Agelgl Media.
The
cattle in the southern Ethiopian town of Kura Kalicha are dying of starvation after
three years of insufficient rains. The dry ground is covered with dozens of
decomposing cattle carcasses, their flesh being picked off by scavengers.
Jilo
Wile, a representative of the local government, worries that the people would
be the next to perish in the drought. According to him, more than 100 locals
are suffering from severe malnutrition and are in hospitals.
"This
number includes children, elders, and pregnant women,” Jilo, who has lost 73 of
his 75 cows to starvation told Reuters.
The
Horn of Africa is experiencing its worst drought in decades, and southern
Ethiopia is suffering along with its neighbors Somalia and Kenya. The current
rainy season is anticipated to fail as well after failing five times in a row,
prompting concerns from aid organizations that additional assistance is required
to prevent a humanitarian crisis.
According
to the United Nations, who defines food insecurity as a lack of regular access
to the safe and nourishing food needed for growth, development, and daily life,
close to 12 million people, or ten percent of the population, are thought to
live in Ethiopia's drought-affected areas.
The
worst-affected country is Somalia, where the drought is believed to have killed
43,000 people last year, falling short of the famine that many relief workers
had feared.
Humanitarian
workers predict that it won't be long until there are deaths directly related
to the drought in the Oromiya region, where Kura Kalicha is located, or the
adjacent drought-affected regions of Ethiopia.
“Collectively,
as communities they have run out of coping mechanisms,” said Kate Maldonado
from international aid agency Mercy Corps, who recently visited southern
Ethiopia's Somali region.
The
majority of the people living in southern Ethiopia's lowlands depend on their
livestock, and they supplement their diets with staple crops like maize.
The
available relief, according to the locals, has been minimal and delayed to
arrive. In a statement published last month, the federal government of Ethiopia
stated that it was collaborating with relief agencies to assist individuals in
need.
Requests
for comment from a federal government representative went unanswered. Officials
responded quickly, according to Hailu Aduga, a representative of the Oromiya
regional government.
"The
aid is not enough given the number of those who are in need. But we have been
working to avoid a loss of human life," he told Reuters.
Everyone
agrees the available resources are inadequate. Last year, Ethiopia received
only half of the $3.34 billion required for humanitarian needs, including the
drought, but also the fallout from the two-year war in the northern region of
Tigray, which ended last November after tens of thousands of deaths.
“If
we don’t scale up our assistance, it won’t be possible to prevent the looming
hunger crisis from affecting children, girls and their families,” said Mudasser
Siddiqui, country director for Plan International, a child rights organisation.
Jilo
Guracha, a 40-year-old a mother of seven, walked 85 kilometres (53 miles) in
the scorching head to reach a camp where she and two of her sons could receive
food rations.
The
camp, in the Dubuluk district, was set up a year ago in an empty field, and now
hosts 53,000 people who live in small huts made from grass and used plastic
bags.
“Some
are committing suicide after failing to provide for their family," she
said. "We beg the government to save us from dying of hunger until God
brings us rain."
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