AFAR PASTORALIST DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATION
QAFAR DACARSITTO DADALIH EGLA
P.O. Box 592 Code 1,110 Addis Ababa afarpda@yahoo.com, afarpastoral@ethionet.et,www.apdaethiopia.org (251)
011 5159787 (251) 0911 642575/ 0911 246639 Fax
(251) 011 5538820 Field Office, Logya (25133) 5500002
Update on the Critical Situation in Afar
Region and Program Development Activities
In
summary:
There is no relief from the situation reported on April 30th:
while there have been a handful of storms in isolated districts, this has not
brought sufficient relief to lead on to recovery and the vast remainder of the
drought – stricken woredas are desperately thirsty as well as hungry. Overall,
the pastoralist community of the central and northern Afar wait in daily
anxiety for the onset of the main rains as expected in July.
The rainfall
situation and thirst
As mentioned above, in the
central and northern districts of the Region there have been a couple of storms
in affected areas: one in a limited part of Sifra in late May as well as a
couple of storms in Assayita and the Gammeri, the southern part of Eli Daar
also in May. Zone 3 in the south of the region had a handful of storms in
Awash, Ami Bara and Gawwaani that were localized. Therefore the southern part
of the region is somewhat less affected.
APDA is transporting water
in Kori Woreda (formerly northern Dubte Woreda) to 7 road – accessible sites.
This contract will terminate on June 30th. If there is no rain in
the targeted areas, these communities will revert to the immediate threat of
thirst. Herdsmen have come from the Kori hinterland to the roadside to get
drinking water as well as the trucked water assisting local communities.
Market and household commodity inflation and
nutrition
By and large, the status of
grain prices is unrelenting with prices as high as 150% above March prices in
the far north and 100% in other areas. Brief and transitory relief was gained
when distributed grain reached the market in early May and again early June.
Far flung woredas such as Konnaba, Dallol and Barahale in the north – west and
Afdeera continue to face household hunger as the community is unable to
purchase with such a depleted and now again weakened goat herd.
APDA is continues to
respond to under 2 year old malnutrition and malnutrition in child – baring
women on a case basis with cerefam and lentils. Case numbers are beginning to
spiral and are apparent in all 18 woredas the program has health workers and
women extension workers in.
The herd status
Reports of animal disease
outbreak continue. This is highly related to dried to depleted pasture. Again,
the cattle herds on the west of the region are extremely affected: in the past
week, the cattle herds of Uwwa began moving their herds to the
In Kori APDA is
supplementary feeding the remaining goats of identified almost destitute
households for 2 months. Aside from preventing these animals from dying, this
will assure the household a milk supply.
Food – for – Work producing needed infrastructure as
well as added food
APDA’s project of food –
for – work in Mille, ‘Adda’ar, Sifra, Uwwa and Awra has caught the enthusiasm
of the community as they battle on in the extreme heat and dry to construct
roads, water ponds, cisterns and rehabilitate pasture land. Already an
impressive road now cuts through from eastern Awra through Geega connecting
with the main
Human health status
There have been several
isolated but alarming outbreaks of severe diarrhea. While the recent outbreak
in ‘Adda’ar does not appear to be acute watery diarrhea, that in Talalak in
northern Zone 5 may well be. Again, 2 deaths and over 100 cases of acute
diarrhea and vomiting in eastern Sifra are related to contaminated traditional
wells that are now 9 – people depth (9 people stand on each other to reach the
level of the water). As far as possible, APDA is sending health workers to each
reported outbreak to avert the feared acute watery diarrhea (AWD) but the
situation is gravely concerning given the extreme vulnerability of the
community. Soap and jerricans are being distributed in some of the most
affected areas. As well, the program to pilot bio-sand water filters is going
well. Expanded, this may well assist in protecting many permanent settlements
from the danger of contaminated water.
Ongoing influx of refugees from
Daily families are fleeing
both hunger and military threat in
Current urgent gaps in assistance
-
Proper and adequate assessment of the situation
-
Water trucking in Kori beyond June 30th
until the rain falls.
-
Animal medications to curb the outbreaks current in
multiple districts of the center and north.
-
Animal feed to assist households facing near
–destitution keeping alive the remaining goats and producing milk for the
family over a period of 2 months supplementary feeding.
-
Human medications to curb any possible disease
outbreak particularly that of acute watery diarrhea
News of the APDA development
program
Given that conditions in
the community are thoroughly averse to daily learning, APDA is taking the
advantage of this time to give annual refresher training to the program’s
teachers. Of the 237 teachers, 142 are currently in the organization training
center completing their own educational standard to Grade 4 equivalent (the
majority of APDA’s community teachers have had no formal education) as well as
preparing themselves to teach up to Level 3 in non-formal education. During the
course of 2 months training, Bureau of Education will examine the teachers’
levels giving them appropriate certification as part of APDA’s strategy to hand
– over program teachers to the respective woreda programs wherever possible.
APDA is again anxious to
re-commence its program of providing EPI coverage to ‘hard – to – reach’
pastoralist communities to lessen the dangers of measles and whooping cough
outbreaks. Health workers and women extension workers are undertaking
blanket nutrition rapid assessment
(MUAC) as mentioned above.
A further 120 traditional
birth attendants (TBAs) joined the primary health team (50 in Uwwa and 70 in
Sifra) after being trained and networked to the health workers and women
extension workers in their respective areas. These TBAs agree to give up
practicing female genital mutilation along with 5 other practices harming the
mother in child-birth. With these TBAs and the effort of the women extension
workers, APDA is able to expand its coverage of antenatal checking, the
fore-front strategy in reducing maternal death.
APDF now has full legal
status and will soon be calling its 19 – odd organizational membership to
acknowledge this and plan a more pro-active future. The forum operates from an
autonomous office in Logya and has all – but completed recruiting its
human-power.
The organization has just completed providing intensive training for selected members of 8 community cooperatives in bookkeeping, business management and finance planning. The Bureau of Cooperative Management provided the trainers and this has initiated an exemplary level of training for these people aimed at overcoming the challenges of difficulties faced by pastoralists in operating as modern income generating cooperatives. Again, with the placement of focal support staff in 11 woredas, it is hoped the community capacity in implementing cooperative income generation will improve.