Government policies undermine pastoralism, officially viewing it as “unsustainable” compared to agriculture. As a result, during cyclical droughts or floods that impact pastoralist communities, successive governments and regimes have turned a blind eye, failing to implement anticipatory measures or support recovery efforts after crises.
In the heart of the Awash Valley, in the semi-arid lands of the Fantalle District in Ethiopia’s Oromia region, pastoralism has sustained the Karrayyu #Oromo – a population of 130,000 – for centuries. Currently, however, the Karrayyu are facing an unprecedented humanitarian crisis. A prolonged and severe drought, compounded by recurrent seismic activity, has devastated their livelihood. Since November 2024, the region has experienced a series of gradual yet intensifying earthquakes, with both the magnitude and frequency increasing over time. These tremors have significantly disrupted pastoralist lifeways, rendering vast stretches of pastureland unusable, uprooting trees, releasing clouds of toxic gas, making boreholes dysfunctional and leading to the destruction of entire villages.
Fantalle District comprises 18 administrative villages (kebeles), the smallest units of governance under Ethiopia’s administrative system. Among these, seven villages have been entirely displaced, with their inhabitants now categorized as internally displaced persons (IDPs). The scale of displacement continues to grow as environmental shocks persist, placing immense pressure on already scarce resources. The combined effects of the ongoing drought and seismic disturbances threaten not only the survival of the Karrayyu Oromo people but also the stability of the region as a whole. Urgent intervention is required to address the mounting humanitarian needs and mitigate further displacement.
Due to insufficient rainfall last summer, the district is already experiencing drought conditions at the maximum level of tolerance. If the dry spell continues any longer, the situation will escalate into a full-blown crisis. These conditions indicate that the community has already exhausted its traditional rangelands, spanning from north to south and west to east, in search of viable grazing areas. However, the recent earthquake has further exacerbated their predicament, disrupting access to these critical rangelands. This obstruction prevents them from utilizing the full extent of their grazing lands, which are essential for their resilience during extreme droughts.
The district has long endured historical injustices regarding rangeland access and land rights. Over the years, it has lost approximately 65% of its ancestral land—territory that was not only resource-rich but also fundamental to the community’s ability to withstand environmental shocks and sustain their livelihoods. The dispossession of these lands has had profound consequences, as the most fertile and strategically important areas have been repurposed for large-scale agricultural and development projects whose products are exported out of the area, such as sugarcane, fruit, and cotton plantations.
Over the past six years, —especially districts and zones such as Borana, Oromia—have been increasingly neglected. Support mechanisms have diminished, leaving these communities to face recurring droughts and environmental hardships with little to no external assistance. As a result, the burden they now carry is staggering—both in human and economic terms. Livelihoods have been decimated, food and water shortages have intensified, and the very survival of these pastoralist societies is under grave threat. The price they are paying is enormous and beyond imagination, as they struggle against the compounded effects of climate change, policy neglect, and dwindling resources.
Looking at the past, particularly in the southern part of the country, the Borana Zone of the Oromia region has faced severe and recurrent droughts, leading to catastrophic livestock losses. Over the course of three consecutive failed rainy seasons, the Borana pastoralist community lost approximately 3.8 million livestock, a devastating blow to their livelihoods and cultural heritage. Initially, the Borana people relied entirely on their own resilience and resourcefulness to survive. For nearly a year and a half, they sold their goats and sheep to purchase fodder in an effort to sustain their remaining livestock. However, as the drought persisted into the second year, their resources were depleted, and they ran out of animals to trade. As a result, their livestock began to perish in alarming numbers, pushing them further into economic and food insecurity.
Despite the escalating crisis, the government systematically obstructed any meaningful humanitarian response that could have provided lifesaving aid to the Borana people. Through a highly controlled bureaucratic system, relief efforts were either delayed or outright blocked, preventing timely intervention that could have mitigated the suffering. Even as the situation worsened, the government refused to officially recognize the unfolding disaster as a “humanitarian crisis,” effectively undermining any large-scale relief initiatives.
This deliberate inaction not only exacerbated the suffering of the Borana community but also raised serious concerns about the role of governance in crisis management. By failing to acknowledge the severity of the drought and its impact, the government’s response—or lack thereof—illustrated a broader pattern of neglect and control over humanitarian assistance, leaving vulnerable populations to bear the brunt of environmental catastrophes alone.
Without immediate national and international intervention, the smallest and most vulnerable communities—face the very real threat of annihilation. In this context, drought is no longer just a natural phenomenon; it has been weaponized as a means of eradicating pastoral livelihoods and, with them, centuries of indigenous knowledge and cultural identity.
