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A man walks the length of a sun-beaten road, roaring winds battering him with sand. Yet the sand should not be here. Desertification is consuming parts of Southern Ethiopia. Photo: Barnaby Jaco Skinner.
In Southern Ethiopia, farmers like Kulu Halake depend on their cattle to survive. But climate change has brought more frequent and intense drought.
Kula Halake stands next to one of her dead cows during Ethiopia's 2022 drought. Photo: Barnaby Jaco Skinner.
Kula Halake , 58, a cattle farmer from Mora Mora village in Borena Zone, Ethiopia says.
“I am fifty eight years old and once owned over one hundred cattle. The last six months has been the hardest of my life. The drought has come and has hit us very hard for three years now. I have lost all my cattle except for one calf. He is our only hope. But what hope is a single calf?“
“We need aid, we need support. We are now in real danger of dying next.”
Climate change, in tandem with overgrazing, is also exacerbating Ethiopia’s desertification problem. This is reducing the amount of land available to farm.
Two women meet on small sand dunes, roaring winds battering them with sand. Yet the sand should not be here. Desertification is consuming parts of Southern Ethiopia. Photo: Barnaby Jaco Skinner.
The UN estimates that Ethiopia loses approximately 2 billion metric tons of farmable soil annually. There are three major ways to address the problem: extensive reforestation, closing off heavily degraded land to grazing, and helping farmers move from animal to plant based farming.
Aymana Kole is a mother, wife, and sole income provider for her family of six in Gurenarama Kebele, South Omo, Ethiopia. Photo: Barnaby Jaco Skinner.
In South Omo, Ethiopia, Trócaire has been working with our partner Agri Service Ethiopia (ASE). ASE are increasing the resilience of communities to the impact of increasing drought and desertification.
They provide a range of training in techniques and practices for taking care of livestock in this challenging and hostile climate. They also provide business and financial training to help people diversify their income sources.
Aymana Kole took part in a recent ASE project, and found the training hugely beneifical.
“After my training I have been able to set up a business and generate an income for my family. I can call myself somebody and my family is surviving. I am now saving to open a shop and even, one day, a car so I can expand and deliver products.”
