Dateline ACT

Ethiopia 02/06

Drought erases long-term gains

By Caroline Waterman, ACT International

Southern Ethiopia, March 23, 2006--The women of Sabant, a small village in southern Ethiopia, are in distress. They have seen their livestock die, their businesses collapse, and now their children are getting sick.

These women had been active in finding ways to tackle the day-to-day poverty they faced.

They had established a cooperative and saved enough money to gain access to credit facilities. With this money and credit they had helped each other to establish small businesses that sold milk, butter and hides at the local markets. The income from these businesses helped them to pay their children’s school fees and buy medicine and extra food for their families.

But all of this has fallen apart because of the drought.

"The drought started gradually," remembers Suku Deda, one of the women living in Sabant. "At first we thought the rains would come. But now the ponds have dried up, and any water nearby is too dirty and makes our children sick."

"Our businesses have collapsed because most of the cows and camels have died, so we have no milk, butter, hides or meat to sell," Suku continues. "We can’t feed our families, and I am struggling to keep my children in school."

"Last week I sent my son to school without his fees. I hoped that maybe the school would accept him and let us pay when things are better. He was crying because he knew they would send him home. He felt so ashamed he would not even go and ask," she says.

Suku and the other women in the village are not optimistic about what the future may bring. "We are just sitting here hopelessly," Suku explains, frustrated and angry that she is unable to help herself. "If nothing comes now, we will be lost. We will just sit and wait and die."

On March 15, the Geneva-based Coordinating Office of Action by Churches Together (ACT) International sent US$50,000 in Rapid Response Funds to members of the ACT forum in Ethiopia – Christian Aid, Lutheran World Federation, DanChurchAid, Norwegian Church Aid, Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus (EECMY), and the Ethiopian Orthodox Church.

These funds, along with other funds Christian Aid is securing*, will enable EECMY, acting as implementer, to start its Borena Drought Relief Project as quickly as possible. EECMY is providing safe drinking water and animal fodder, but much more is needed to aid the recovery.

An ACT appeal will be issued in the coming days to all members of the global alliance that will include Christian Aid and its local implementing partners, EECMY and the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. The appeal will address needs after the initial crisis phase and will focus on the southern areas of the country as well as address chronic food shortages in other parts of the country.

Christian Aid’s country representative in Ethiopia, Abiy Hailu, reports that "after something like this, it could take up to eight years for pastoralist communities to restore the stock of animals they have lost because of the drought. Reviving things like the cooperatives and schools could happen more quickly, but," he warns, "this is dependent on the communities receiving the support they need."

Caroline Waterman is a communications officer for U.K.-based Christian Aid, a member of Action by Churches Together (ACT) International.