SOMALIA:  CONTINUED DROUGHT SPELLS DISASTER FOR NOMADS

NEW YORK, 14 November (OCHA) -- The current drought in Sool Plateau and Gebi Valley, Somalia, is the worst in living memory, according to a recent inter-agency assessment of 10 villages and other sites in the area.  For four years, rains have either partially or completely failed.  The assessment found that over 90,000 people out of the 650,000 in the area are at risk due to the continued drought.

Cumulative livestock losses have decimated herds, especially camel herds, whose numbers are down by 60 to 70 per cent.  Herds of pack camels are showing even high mortality rates of over 80 per cent.  Camels are also largely failing to reproduce, which means that herds cannot recover, and that milk production has plummeted.

Deaths of animals and the failure of herds to reproduce are proving devastating for their nomadic owners.  Loss of pack camels reduces nomads' mobility and chances to survive in droughts.  Moreover, livestock sales usually provide approximately 30 per cent of total income for poor households in a normal year; now, however, prices are down by 60 to 70 per cent because the animals are in poor shape.  Selling camel milk provides around 30 per cent of total income in a normal year.  The drop in milk production means that there is less milk both for consumption and for sale.  Despite the drop in incomes, household expenses have increased enormously, largely because the price of water tankering for animals and household use has risen by around 350 per cent.

People are trying to cope by selling their possessions and getting credit to buy food and water, which is becoming increasingly difficult.  The debt burden is heavy, and some village traders have shut down because of bad debt.  Although the Diaspora still sends remittances, these reach mainly better-off households, many of whom have left the area.  Traditionally, gifts of food, cash and livestock have provided an important safety net for the poor, but this source is now threatened as the better off are facing the burden of having costly and unproductive assets.  The combination of diminished assets, reduced incomes and increased expenditure has pushed livelihoods to the very edge of collapse.

It is now clear that the rainy season has ended without significant rainfall over the Sool Plateau, and beyond into the neighbouring areas.  This failure spells disaster.  Herds weakened by the extended drought may not survive, and a collapse of the pastoral economy and social support systems could cause large-scale population movement to towns, rapid deterioration of nutritional status and increased morbidity and mortality.  The numbers of severely affected people are likely to increase as livelihoods collapse, while others will fall into poverty.

To prevent a full-scale disaster, the mission recommended immediate measures including food aid, cash, emergency water provision, emergency health services, and veterinary services.  Beginning in February 2004, the mission recommended projects to support and rebuild livelihoods based on cash or food for work projects as well as longer-term assistance.

For further information, please call:  Stephanie Bunker, OCHA NY, tel.: 917 367 5126, mobile: 917 892 1679; or Elisabeth Byrs, OCHA Geneva, tel.: 41 22 917 26 53, mobile: 41 (O) 79 473 45 70.

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