OCHA Situation Report
Ethiopia
22 May 2006


Source: UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

GU AND BELG RAINFALLS FAVOURABLE SO FAR

Even though the seasons are not yet over, rainfall for belg (minor 
season) cropping areas and gu (main season) for southern pastoral areas, 
continue to be favourable. An assessment mission from late June to early 
July will assess the impact of the rainfall. With the exception of North 
Shewa, most zones in Oromiya Region had well distributed and good amount 
of rainfall. In the western half of the region, farmers are well 
advanced with land preparation for meher (main rainy season) crops and 
planting of long cycle crops such as maize and sorghum. In Amhara, there 
have been moderate rains in Wag Hamra, North and South Wello zones, 
favouring vegetative growth of belg crops in Wello, although crops are 
later than normal due to delays in planting. Recent rains have helped 
regeneration of pastures, replenishment of water and initiation of land 
preparation for the main season planting. Large areas in Southern 
Nations Nationalities and People's Region (SNNPR) had moderate rainfall 
with Hadiya, lowland and midland areas of Gamo Gofa and Sidama receiving 
light showers while the rainfall in South Omo was moderate to heavy. 
During the past week, no rain was reported in Alaba Special woreda and 
Silti and Gurage zones. Afar Region is already in its dry season and 
there has been no rainfall since the beginning of May. The recent sugum 
rains (short rainy season) have been better than the past few years. 
There is improvement in the conditions of browse. Consequently, milk 
production from goats and camels is showing improvement but that of 
cattle remains very poor. Meanwhile, floods are reported in Dolo Bay and 
Chereti woredas in Afder zone and Mustahil woreda in Gode zone in Somali 
Region. According to Islamic Relief, the head of Disaster Preparedness 
and Prevention Office (DPPO) reported that the floods in Chereti have 
destroyed nine villages and displaced more than 870 households. More 
than 4,500 animals (shoats) are also reported to have been killed by the 
floods. DPPO and Ministry of Health are providing food and medicines to 
the affected population. In addition, the floods in Mustahil woreda have 
affected 20 kebeles, according to the Jijiga Save the Children-UK 
office. On the other hand, Jijiga and Shinille zones had no rains in the 
second week of May. Warder zone received some light showers in the first 
half of May with Warder woreda having one day of heavy rainfall that 
destroyed houses and property. In Fik zone, Hamero, Fik and Lagahida 
woredas had one day of normal rainfall on 14 May but the remaining 
woredas were dry. In Degehabur zone, most woredas had moderate rains 
while the northern part of Aware and Gunagado received light showers. 
Gode, Korahe and Afder zones had mixed fortunes, with moderate to good 
rains around mid-May in several woredas, including East and West Imi, 
Denan, Chereti, Gode, Kelafo and Adadle, with light rains reported from 
Hargele, Bare and Kebridehar. For more information contact: 
wfp.addisababa@wfp.org & representative@islamic-relief.org.et

HRF DISBURSED the FIRST FUND ALLOCATION

The Humanitarian Response Fund (HRF) disbursed its first allocation of 
US$ 5.3 million towards the current drought emergency in Oromiya and 
Somali regions. Other projects are also under consideration for funding. 
Currently, all approved agencies have commenced start-up activities. The 
HRF for Ethiopia is designed to be a rapid, flexible resource to fund 
live-saving interventions identified collaboratively by the Humanitarian 
Community and the Government through the Humanitarian Appeal, Flash 
Appeals, and assessments. The initial contribution of 4 million pounds 
came from DFID, and additional funds are in the pipeline for this year. 
OCHA is coordinating closely with other donors, implementers, and 
humanitarian partners to address gaps and reduce overlaps in order to 
maximise the impact of resources utilised in the regions. For more 
information contact: ocha-eth@un.org

RELIEF FOOD DISPATCHES CONTINUE BUT ARE SLOW FOR SOMALI REGION

DPPA's daily relief food dispatches continue in the drought affected 
areas of the country. Food movement to Somali, the most affected region, 
continues to be slow due to security problems and difficult road 
conditions due to heavy rains in some areas. From the 23,500 tonnes of 
WFP relief food allocated for Somali Region in February, 93 percent has 
been dispatched to date. DPPA is still moving allocations made in March 
for Afder and Liben zones, and for the other zones of the region, 
dispatches are expected to start this week. For Borena zone of Oromiya 
Region, the DPPA has dispatched 98 percent of the 2,500 tonnes of food 
aid allocated in February and 98 percent of the 2,500 tonnes food 
allocated in March. The DPPA has completed transporting Afar's March 
allocation (875 tonnes) and is in the process of starting to dispatch 
April's allocation. For more information contact: wfp.addisababa@wfp.org

SAFETY NET UPDATE

The Productive Safety Nets Programme (PSNP), which plans to reach 7.2 
million beneficiaries in 2006, is well underway. After initial delays in 
resource transfers, most of the PSNP woredas have received food or cash 
for the first two months (April and May). Food resources for the third 
month have been dispatched to the woredas, while preparations are 
underway to channel financial resources (through the banking system) to 
cash woredas. According to a recent report released by the Federal Food 
Security Coordination Bureau, in many woredas, grain prices have 
continued to increase progressively, affecting the purchasing capacity 
of safety nets cash beneficiaries. One of the essential thrusts of the 
PSNP in general and its Public Works (PWs) component in particular, is 
to build a range of assets of communal value, including maintenance 
and/or construction of social service facilities, land and water 
conservation structures and related physical infrastructure such as 
feeder roads. However, PWs have been implemented with varying levels of 
seriousness and commitment. Cognisant of this, a Government and 
multi-donor technical team has been deployed to undertake a technical 
review of PWs in different parts of the country. The findings are being 
collated and once it is finalised, regional workshops will be conducted 
to discuss on the findings and to agree on the way forward. For more 
information contact: wfp.addisababa@wfp.org

Promotion of the Tracking Strategy Approach for Livestock in the Horn of 
Africa

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) launched its 
"Regional Livestock Study in the Greater Horn of Africa" in Ethiopia on 
18 May at the Federal Agriculture Task Force meeting. The study, which 
aims to provide a comprehensive picture of the current 
livestock/pastoralists situation and of responding to emergencies within 
this context, recommends using the Tracking Strategy Approach, which 
includes: more attention to addressing causes; greater harmonisation in 
approaches; a stronger link between early warning systems and responses; 
greater donor flexibility; more livelihood diversification; and 
improving production levels in specific areas. For more information 
contact: ecosec.nai@icrc.org (Mr. Piers Simpkin)

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