Drought affected livestocks walking to a river side in Adadle district, Biyolow Kebele in Somali region of Ethiopia.
Ethiopia is experiencing prolonged drought with three consecutive poor rainy seasons, the first time in four decades; three consecutive rainy seasons have failed since late 2020. There are indications that the next rainy season in March/April 2022 may also be well below normal.
The intense and ongoing drought will cause significant food and income loss, worsening food insecurity through mid-2022. Crisis (IPC Phase 3) outcomes are expected in southern and south-eastern pastoral areas in the coming months, with some households facing Emergency (IPC Phase 4) levels of hunger.
According to the Somali Region Drought Response Plan December 2021:
• up to 3.3 million people are likely to require food assistance in the next three months.
• 2.2 million people are facing water shortages and need urgent water trucking.
• 173,000 children under 5 years of age and pregnant and lactating women are malnourished.
• 260,000 livestock have died, signalling growing stresses and vulnerability to human populations. These challenges are exacerbating longer-term difficulties linked to COVID-19, inflation, desert locust invasions, poor infrastructure, and drought.
• During a nutritional screening conducted in the Somali Region in December 2021, 22 percent of children and a third of pregnant and breastfeeding women were found to be wasted. All zones exceeded the emergency Global Acute Malnutrition (GAM) threshold of 15 percent, and eight of 11 zones having higher than 20 percent prevalence.
Response
WFP is scaling up its support to reach 2.7 million beneficiaries in the Somali Region with emergency food assistance and cash-based transfers. WFP supports over 30,000 women and children of the Somali Region with emergency nutrition support.
Hargeysa (Dawan) Hay’adda cunnada adduunka ee WFP ayaa ka digtay in dad lagu qiyaasay 20 milyan oo qof oo ku nool qaybo ka mid ah Itoobiya, iyo Kenya oo ay abaaruhu saameeyeen in ay la kulmi karaan musiibo ay gaajadu ka mid tahay, haddii gobolka ay ku dhufato abaar sannadkii afraad oo xidhiidh ah.
WFP ayaa sheegtay in baaqashada dalagyadii ka soo go’i lahaa dalka Itoobiya ay sababatay in 7.2 milyan oo qof ay la soo gudboonaatay macaluul ba’an, isla markaana ay dileen in ka badan hal milyan oo xoolo ah.
Xaaladda dalka Kenya ayaa ah mid aan ka rooneyn tan Itoobiya, iyadoo abaarta ka sii daraysa ay keentay in inka badan saddex milyan oo qof ay cunto la’aan ku dhacdo.
Agaasimaha WFP ee Bariga Afrika, Michael Dunford, waxa uu sheegay in tirada dadka gaajeysan ay u gudbi karto dad lagu qiyaasay 14 milyan ilaa 20 milyan, haddii roobabku ay dib u di’i waayaan.
