Drought hits Ethiopia again but climate change not only the reason but also lack of good governance

 East Bale , Oromia – “People are in trouble down here, all the way from Darako up to Sawwena, they have left their homes to find better pasture and water sources,” Aliyi Sheik Osman told. A resident of Rayitu woreda, in east Bale zone, Oromia regional state, Aliyi says “there is nothing there and what the government is doing is not enough, imagine demanding water and getting less than 10 liters of it. The food they provide is not sufficient and can’t hold a family, which happens to be large in these areas, until the end of any given month.”

Aliyi is just one of the dozens of residents spoke to during an assignment trip to East Bale zone.

But the climate-induced drought is not the only culprit ravaging the communities down there. Multiple accounts from eyewitnesses who spoke with Addis Standard reveal marginalization, poor governance and corruption are exacerbating the already dire situation.

For decades, food insecurity has been leaving a trail bitter impact predominantly during the dry seasons of the Horn of Africa, where drought prevails year after year, devastating millions in the wake severe lack of food and water.

Discussing the aid provided by the regional government, one of resident said, “Please do not get me started on that. We ask God to bless us with rain so we can go back to our areas and stop asking them (Oromia Regional Government) for anything. They didn’t do so much for us all these years. Why would we expect them to do so now?”

Way before it recovers from the ravages of desert locust infestation since April 2020, the 2021 drought that hit the Horn of Africa is classified as the worst drought in decades leaving millions in parts of Ethiopia, Kenya, and Somalia between life and death.

According to the Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET), the Horn of Africa region is facing the third consecutive below-average rainfall season since late 2020, which is expected to intensify the ongoing drought and significantly worsen food insecurity through at least mid-2022. Multiple regional and global forecast models concur that October to December 2022 rainfall will be below average, primarily due to negative Indian Ocean Dipole and La Niña conditions.

Similarly, report by Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) underlines that droughts in the Horn of Africa have been increasing in severity and frequency, aggravated by climate change, desertification, and land degradation. The prolonged drought and its impact in Ethiopia, however, is exacerbated by the current security and economic crisis that consumed much of the government’s attention. The crisis is further compounded by unsuccessful agricultural strategies that could not yet serve to ensure food security or improved water accessibility to areas affected by scarcity of rain predominantly in Oromia.

The situation in Sawwena and the rest of the East Bale zone is exacerbated by the absence of access roads, health care centers, and other basic services. Residents of the zone have long complained of being left alone despite the regional government’s repeated promises to address their complaints, but with nothing to show but failure under successive governments.