UNITED NATIONS EMERGENCIES UNIT FOR ETHIOPIA Field Trip to North Shewa, Oromiya and South Welo Zones Region 3 (Amhara) March 9 - 17, 1995 Hans Spiess, Field Officer 1. INTRODUCTION Given the differing reports regarding the onset of the short rainy season (Belg) a field trip was carried out in order to assess the conditions in the area. During this trip information was collected from zonal and wereda officials, representatives of NGOs and local inhabitants. The current Belg season started at the beginning of March in the lowland parts of North Shewa and Oromiya zones (Shewa Robit, Kemise) and in the adjacent highlands. In South Welo zone, in the proximity of Kombolcha and Dessie, the rains had a satisfactory start, but stopped during the second week of March. Although the highland parts near the eastern escarpment have received sporadic showers, other Belg-dependent highland areas of North Shewa and South Welo zones remain dry and land preparation had not started by the end of the trip. Even if the Belg season provides sufficient rainfall in the coming weeks and into April, cultivation time for Belg crops may be lost. The crop maturing period would coincide with the onset of the Kiremt rains and therefore late Belg rains will only be able to benefit water availability and forage for animals. Following the failure of the Belg season in 1994 and mixed results of the Meher harvest due to an excessive rainfall combined with water-logging and flooding in some areas and early withdrawal in others, the outlook for an improved food situation looks rather grim. The regional Relief and Rehabilitation Bureau (RRB) in Bahir Dar has issued rather restrictive instructions regarding food distributions in Region 3 (Amhara) and still maintains that eighty percent of the relief food should be obtained through food for work or Employment Generating Schemes (EGS). Following post-harvest assessments, the total number of people in need of food assistance has been increased by 25 percent (from 1,200,000 to 1,500,000 beneficiaries) by the regional RRB. Regardless of the different conditions and needs requirements of the weredas in the region, this increase has been applied to all weredas. In January, each wereda received correspondence from the zonal RRB providing them with the number of people entitled to food assistance (with a breakdown of 80% food for work and 20% free food distribution) and the food quantities that would be provided. At the beginning of March instructions were issued that food distributions were not to be carried out until later, arguing that the affected populations still had provisions from the past harvest to suffice for two to three months. At the local level, however, the picture is rather confusing. In certain weredas food is already distributed freely, whereas in other weredas local inhabitants are engaged in FFW activities but are not receiving any rations. In a number of weredas the situation is unclear concerning both free food distributions and FFW activities. In many areas it is not clearly understood how the RRB and NGOs target some specific weredas for intervention while no assistance measures are taken in neighbouring weredas where conditions are equally bad. On the more positive side, road construction and maintenance is progressing well in all areas visited. The main road between Addis Ababa and Dessie has partially been provided with a new asphalt surface (work is currently underway on the road from Sendafa to Debre Birhan and Shewa Robit to Karakore). The more remote parts of North Shewa, South Welo and North Welo zones will greatly benefit from the Rural Roads Project, financed by the World Bank and constructed under the Ministry of Public Works and Urban Development. This projected all-weather road will lead from Alem Ketema (North Shewa zone) through Aksta (South Welo zone) to Lalibela (North Welo zone) and Sekota (Wag Hamra zone). Construction in the central part from Aksta to Dawnt (where it will cross the Chinese road) is carried out by a company called African Engineers and Contractors. The length of this road is expected to be 181 kilometre and the total construction cost is estimated at Birr 59,330,613. The completion time has been set for January 1997. So far, about 25 km has been completed and work is ongoing towards Adjibar using heavy equipment. In the areas visited, some wereda towns are also benefitting from improved feeder roads. These roads are constructed or maintained through labour intensive schemes and, in contrast to the road construction carried out by AEC using heavy equipment, hundreds of daily workers dominate the scene in these wereda project sites. 2. NORTH SHEWA ZONE During an earlier field trip in January the zonal RRB in Debre Birhan provided the information that five weredas in the zone are experiencing food deficiency and would need food assistance. At the same time reports in Debre Birhan indicated the situation of Gishe Rabel wereda could be worse than had been expected during the pre-harvest assessment. As this wereda is difficult to access, the zonal Disaster Prevention and Preparedness Committee was preparing to carry out an assessment by helicopter in the third week of March 1995. In North Shewa, Belg rains started during the first week of March, but only in the eastern lowland parts of the zone (Shewa Robit, Karakore) and the adjacent mountain slopes of the eastern escarpment (west of the main road Debre Sina - Kemise). Further west, where five weredas in dire need of food assistance are located (south of South Welo zone, (Mamma Mider, Gera Mider, Lalo Mider, Gishe Rabel and Efratnatimmuga) no rainfall has been reported yet. The delay of the Belg rains will have a negative impact on the food situation in the highland areas of these weredas. After the almost complete failure of last year's Belg season and the bad outcome of the Meher harvest due to both excessive rains and an early withdrawal, the outlook for the coming months is worrying. 2.1. Visit to Gera Midr Wereda Gera Midr wereda with its main town of Mehal Meda is accessible through a recently improved all-weather dirt road (95 km from the turn-off near the Debre Sina tunnel). The wereda is comprised of 43 kebeles (including Mehal Meda town), two of which are located in the lowlands, ten in the mid-highlands and 31 in the highlands. According to the wereda administration, eighty percent of the kebeles are Belg dependent. From the total population of around 100,000 the zonal assessment team have indicated that 63,175 persons will need food assistance during 1995. The 1995 Belg season has not started yet in the wereda and as such, the administration considers the situation in the highland areas more serious this year than a year ago. The 1994 Kiremt rains were good in quantity but the distribution was irregular and the rains withdrew early. This resulted in low crop production. Subsequently, unless the Belg rains start immediately, it will be too late to cultivate and any rains occurring later would only benefit livestock. Medecins du Monde (MdM) and World Vision International (WVI) are the two main NGOs operating in the wereda. MdM is involved in health and sanitation activities and WVI is running a rural integrated development programme. Their activities include agriculture, afforestation, health, infrastructure, child care and women development. They cover 23 rural kebeles as well as Mehal Meda town and have reported that a total of 68,220 persons benefit from their activities. The agricultural section of WVI regularly carries out crop assessments in their respective project areas. Last year's Belg assessment in the project areas showed a crop reduction of 64%. The mortality rate of livestock due to lack of pasture and diseases was 7% for cattle, 34% for sheep and goats and 4% for equine. According to the WVI agronomist, the Kiremt season started on time with heavy rains negatively affecting seed-bed preparation and sewing. A sharp decrease in rainfall distribution in August and September had negative impact on the maturing crops. The Meher crop production loss is therefore estimated at 71%. Pasteurellosis outbreaks also resulted in a mortality rate of 37% on sheep, 4% on cattle and 2% on equine. Landholding in the WVI project area in Gera Midr is: less than 0.25 ha 0.8 % 0.26 - 0.5 ha 21.2 % 0.5 -0.75 ha 25.7 % 0.76 - 1.0 ha 30.8 % over 1 ha 21.5 % WVI is running FFW schemes in their project area with regular food distributions to participants. At the beginning of March, the zonal RRB instructed WVI to halt food distributions immediately until further notice. According to the zonal post-harvest assessments, it has been speculated that the peasants have sufficient food from recent harvest to sustain them in the coming two to three months. However, this assumption has not been accepted by the voluntary agency and the wereda administration. 3. OROMIYA ZONE The zonal administration considers the current conditions in the zone satisfactory except in Bati wereda. Rainfall has been reported other weredas and is expected to have a positive impact on water and forage availability. If the rains continue, the inhabitants and livestock currently residing in the area east of the Cheffa Valley can remain in their villages without being forced to migrate to the Cheffa plain grazing grounds as was the case last year. The regional RRB has transported 600 tons of grain to Bati wereda, but has instructed the local administration not to distribute until further assessments have been carried out. The administration had requested this food aid for immediate distribution to 35,000 beneficiaries in January. The zonal officials also consider the situation in Bati critical enough to proceed with the distribution of the 600 tons. 4. SOUTH WELO ZONE The onset of the Belg season in South Welo zone was late and rainfall has been poor. The eastern part received some rain at the beginning of March, but this situation was not consistent and was already starting to change with the withdrawal of rains at the time of the visit. The highland parts west of Dessie have had no rainfall reported. In general, the delay of the Belg season has caused much concern and peasants are already preparing for the worst. The absence of even minimal rainfall makes it impossible to prepare the seed beds, and it is perceived that even if the rains should start now it may be too late for planting. There is little forage for animals and on the way to Adjibar the people are resorting to digging small root plants in order to feed their animals. The mechanisms of relief food distribution and FFW activities are still not completely resolved in South Welo zone. In January, the zonal RRB informed the weredas identified as entitled to food assistance in post-harvest assessments of the number of beneficiaries to be assisted in each wereda. According to the RRB list of beneficiaries, food aid would be provided in return for participation in FFW activities. These distributions would also be complemented by some free food rations. It seems that the regional RRB decided to delay the start of the food distributions as much as possible. According to their assessments, most peasants are expected to have food reserves from their last harvest and should be able to subsist on this for another two to three months. Distributions have already started in the weredas assisted by NGOs. The Ethiopian Red Cross Society/International Federation of Red Cross/Crescent Societies (ERCS/IFRCS) have completed the first series of food assistance to 40,000 beneficiaries in Tenta wereda, 20,000 in Lege Ambo, 35,000 in Mekdela and 25,000 beneficiaries in Kelala. These distributions were started with food supplied by Save the Children UK. At the present time, SCF's assistance is limited to two months. The NGO is further investigating the deteriorating conditions with a view of assisting Sayint, Debre Sina and Wegedi weredas. The zonal RRB in Dessie has no plan as yet to intervene in the remaining weredas which are not supported by NGOs. Ambassel, a wereda not included in the list of those in need of food assistance, has reported 61,000 people on the verge of starvation. As a result, the zonal Disaster Preparedness and Prevention Committee was to carry out an assessment in the third week of March. 4.1. Visits to Weredas in South Welo zone TENTA WEREDA According to the wereda administration, the conditions in Tenta are worse than last year. The 1994 Meher harvest was considerably reduced due to excessive and untimely rains. The market prices of grain are also higher than one year ago. Teff is brought in by traders from Dessie and currently sells for Birr 260 per quintal. Livestock prices are very low. Goats sell for Birr 15 per head which is equivalent to the price normally gained for one goat skin. No stress migration has been officially reported, however the number of deaths which could be related to the food shortage is rising. ERCS/IFRC have already finished their first food distributions for 1995. Their rations consist of 15 kg of grain, 1 litre of oil and 2 kg of beans. In addition to these rations, each head of household has received 32 kg of wheat seed. However, with the absence of the Belg rains there are doubts that the peasants can use the seed for planting. The Red Cross has posted a nutritionist in Adjibar, who has confirmed that the beneficiaries receiving food in Adjibar are in good conditions, but also noted that a planned visit to the farmsteads may reveal a different picture. MEKDELA WEREDA Mekdela wereda, west of Tenta wereda, is in a similar situation as Tenta. Last year's Belg season was a complete failure followed by an unsatisfactory Meher harvest. Due to dried out soil, the heavy Kiremt rains caused strong water run-off and led to flooding. In addition, maturing crops were badly damaged by armyworm infestation. In this area it can generally be assessed that the lowland kebeles are better off than the highland areas. The wereda administration reports 50,418 beneficiaries in need of immediate assistance and another 88,325 also registered but who do not require priority attention and have better nutritional status. SCF (UK) are covering 35,000 beneficiaries through the RRB for a period of two months. So far no stress migration has been reported to have taken place. The administration has been persuading the needy population to remain in their villages with the promise of food aid. Now, with the Belg rains still absent and insufficient food aid reaching the wereda, they expect a wave of people to leave the wereda in search for food and labour. Food prices have changed and are excessively high and government workers are now complaining that they cannot cope anymore with their low salaries. The Japan International Volunteers Centre (JVC), which was operating a rural integrated development programme in Mekdela wereda suspended all activities last year due to disagreements between the organization's staff and the project participants. The wereda administration reports that negotiations are underway for JVC projects to resume. DEBRE SINA WEREDA Debre Sina wereda is located in the southwestern part of South Welo zone. The main town is Mekane Selam, which is an important market and trading centre for the area. Mekane Selam is served by Ethiopian Airlines three times a week as road accessibility tends to be bad during the rainy season. During the Kiremt season, between June and September, the road from Mekane Selam to Dessie is completely closed. Of the 58 kebeles in the wereda, only five to six kebeles are Belg dependant. The Meher crop production was greatly reduced by heavy rainfall. The wereda administration claims that of the 150,000 inhabitants around 120,000 will experience food shortages all or part of 1995. The zonal Disaster Preparedness and Prevention Committee has accepted a lower figure of 79,300 people entitled to assistance, whereas the regional RRB reduced this to 40,214 people. During meetings at the administration, the wereda administrator produced correspondence from the zonal RRB, dated January 1995, to the effect that 40,214 persons would receive food aid, of which 32,171 would have to participate in FFW activities and 8,043 persons would receive free food. The letter also mentioned that the total amount of food aid of 4,958 tons would be dispatched to the wereda through the Relief and Rehabilitation Commission (RRC). FFW activities have already started in the wereda and include road construction and soil and water conservation. However, the participants are losing interest in the work as no food has been distributed yet. KUTABER WEREDA Kutaber wereda, north of Dessie, is among the most densely populated weredas of the zone. Its 15 highland kebeles experienced a poor Belg and Meher production last year. The wereda administration estimates around 10,500 families are highly exposed to food shortages. Only three kebeles have so far reported rain during the current Belg season. Peasants are involved in soil and water conservation activities and in road construction. The project participants expect food rations to be delivered, but the wereda request to the zonal RRB for food supplies has yet to be answered. In the past two months 30 people have been reported to have died due to malnutrition, 20 in one kebele alone. The administration expects this number to rise, especially if no food assistance is provided before long. Since high numbers of the inhabitants were removed for resettlement ten years ago there is still a lot of movement between the resettlement sites in the southwest of the country and the original homesteads. Other than the afore-mentioned problems the wereda administrator pointed out another main concern, which does not only concern Kutaber wereda: With an average of about 0.25 hectares of landholding per family it is impossible to feed the present population even in a good year. Most of the peasants are already involved, on a part-time basis, in trade and daily labour. According to the local administration, the only solution to the problem is to encourage part of the population to move to other areas which are not over-populated. The administration estimates that about 20 percent of the originally population resettled over a decade ago did not return to Kutaber. The administration are looking into the possibility of promoting those who have returned from the resettlement areas to go back there. However, they still do not have any plans on how to proceed with this idea and have not decided on how to best approach the population on this issue. N.B. According to reports obtained from FAO, since the finalisation of this report there have been indications that the Belg rains have resumed in the northern parts of Ethiopia. Prepared by: UN-EUE P.O. Box 5580 Addis Ababa, Ethiopia Tel.: (251) (1) 511028/9 Fax: (251) (1) 511292 E-mail: UNEUE@padis.gn.apc.org ??