USAID Response to the Ethiopian Drought: Organizing a Food Distribution
USAID works with a number of non-governmental organization partners to support the Productive Safety Net Program in Ethiopia. Here a worker for USAID-partner Catholic Relief Services helps to organize distributions.
Photo credit: Catholic Relief Services.
USAID Response to the Ethiopian Drought: Filling Jerry Cans
Women fill their jerry cans at a water point rehabilitated by USAID. For most rural areas of Ethiopia, water points are the main source of water for households.
Photo credit: Kelley Lynch.
USAID Response to the Ethiopian Drought: Measuring for Malnutrition
At the Haieleum Health Post in Hawzien Woreda, Samrawit Gebremeskel, a GOAL nurse, is measuring the mid-upper arm circumference of a child enrolled in the outpatient therapeutic program to monitor the progress of the child’s nutritional status. USAID, and its partner GOAL, are working to reduce acute malnutrition among vulnerable groups through nutrition interventions in the Afar, Amhara, Gambella, Oromia, SNNP and Tigray regions.
Photo credit: Robert Sauers, USAID.
USAID Response to the Ethiopian Drought: Avoiding Potential Danger
Getting assistance quickly to rural communities in drought-affected areas is essential to ensure young people are not tempted to risk their lives attempting to go abroad illegally.
Photo credit: David Kahrmann, USAID.
USAID Response to the Ethiopian Drought: Yesriba with her son Seid
Photo credit: Save the Children.
USAID Response to the Ethiopian Drought: Rain Failure in Kobo
Because of El Niño, rains do not come when needed. Crops dependent on the kiremt summer rains failed in Kobo. As seen in this photo (taken on December 14), Kobo received some rain during what is traditionally the dry season.
Photo credit: David Kahrmann, USAID.
USAID Response to the Ethiopian Drought: Ambassador Visits Water Site
While in Jigjiga last week to help open a USAID-supported export abattoir, U.S. Ambassador to Ethiopia Patricia Haslach and USAID Ethiopia Mission Director Dennis Weller stopped to see how the United States is helping to build resilience in areas frequently affected by drought conditions.
Photo credit: David Kahrmann, USAID.
USAID Response to the Ethiopian Drought: Food Warehouse in DIre Dawa
Workers stack sacks of wheat in a USAID warehouse in Dire Dawa, one of four primary distribution points in Ethiopia. USAID provides the food through its Joint Emergency Operation managed by Catholic Relief Services.
Photo credit: Robert Sauers, USAID.
USAID Response to the Ethiopian Drought: Worker Divides Food Portions
A worker divides out portions according to family size at the Estayesh food distribution site in Denkena Kebele, Meket Woreda in Amhara. USAID’s Joint Emergency Operation, a Catholic Relief Services-led consortium, Save the Children and Food for the Hungry/Ethiopia are providing emergency assistance to more than 26,000 people in Meket Woreda.
Photo credit: David Kahrmann, USAID.
USAID Response to the Ethiopian Drought: Ambassadors Haslach and O'Hara
Ambassadors Haslach and O’Hara visited drought affected areas in North Wollo, Amhara. During their trip, the ambassadors witnessed emergency food distribution operations in Meket Woreda, participated in group discussions with local residents in Meket and Kobo woredas, and met with local government officials and non-governmental organizations working in the area.
Photo credit: David Kahrmann, USAID.
USAID Response to the Ethiopian Drought: Food Distribution Warehouse
Representatives of USAID partner Relief Society of Tigray (right), describe the food distribution system in Hawzien to USAID Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance Director Jeremy Konydnyk (left) and U.S. Chargé d'Affaires to Ethiopia Peter Vrooman.
Photo credit: Robert Sauers, USAID.
USAID Response to the Ethiopian Drought: Getting Water Can be a Challenge
Residents of Fedha’ad used to get water for their consumption and their livestock from a surface dam during the dry season. This required a round trip trek of approximately 60km; they relied on seasonal surface ponds and birkads during the rainy season.
Photo credit: David Kahrmann, USAID.
USAID Response to the Ethiopian Drought: Residents Describe Effects of Drought
Residents of Denkena Kebele told ambassadors Haslach and O’Hara that many families were on the verge of leaving their communities before emergency food assistance arrived. Now, they have decided to stay—but they are deeply concerned about the coming year.
Photo credit: David Kahrmann, USAID.
USAID Response to the Ethiopian Drought: USAID Donated Food
WFP collects and distributes food items for the Somali Region in Ethiopia in warehouses in Jigjiga.
Photo credit: Petterik Wiggers, World Food Programme.
USAID Response to the Ethiopian Drought: Providing Thumb Print to Receive Food Ration
To ensure that each household gets its proper allotment, recipients sign for their emergency food rations with thumb prints.
Photo credit: David Kahrmann, USAID.
USAID Response to the Ethiopian Drought: Carrying the Food Away
In addition to mobilizing emergency food supplies to help the Government of Ethiopia to respond to El Niño, the United States has been supporting the Government of Ethiopia’s Productive Safety Net Program (PSNP) since 2005 through USAID. In July 2015, the Government of Ethiopia increased the PSNP caseload to reach 7.9 million people. The United States provides approximately $100 million in support to the PSNP each year.
Photo credit: USAID.
USAID Response to the Ethiopian Drought: Providing Access to Water
By providing increased access to sustainable safe water and working with communities on better natural resources management and improved hygiene behavior, USAID and its partner, International Rescue Committee, are helping to ensure farming and pastoralist communities are better able to withstand drought conditions.
Photo credit: David Kahrmann, USAID.
USAID Response to the Ethiopian Drought: Getting Water for Camels
Camel herders work together to haul up water and pour into a trough, taking it in turn to water their respective herds. Through the rehabilitation of well sites, USAID and its partners have improved access to water for pastoralists. So far USAID’s Pastoralists' Areas Resilience Improvement through Market Expansion activity implemented through Mercy Corps has also rehabilitated 16 ponds.
Photo credit: Kelley Lynch.
USAID Response to the Ethiopian Drought: Wheat Seed
Farmer Melese Tsegaye blows to clean and select Kingbird variety wheat seed for his field. The seed is from the Kulumsa Research Station, Boru Lencha village, Hetosa district, Arsi highlands.
Photo credit: Peter Lowe, CIMMYT.
USAID Response to the Ethiopian Drought: Families Head Home with their Food Rations
Families begin their journey home from the Estayesh food distribution site in Denkena Kebele, Meket Woreda with emergency food rations.
Photo credit: David Kahrmann, USAID.
USAID Response to the Ethiopian Drought: Drought impact in West Arsi
A couple start off for home with their family's rations.
Photo credit: Nancy McNally, Catholic Relief Services.
USAID Response to the Ethiopian Drought: Drought impact in West Arsi
Sometimes the whole family comes to collect a family's ration. In many areas school attendance is suffering as children need to help their parents in carrying water and food over long distances.
Photo credit: Nancy McNally, Catholic Relief Services.
USAID Response to the Ethiopian Drought: Drought impact in West Arsi
Badoo Fukura, 28, stands at the bottom of a basin that used to be the community watering hole. It served about 30 different families here, near the small town of Aje, south of the capital Addis Ababa. In normal years, after the rains the water here lasts for six months. The water only lasted two months in 2015. The watering hole went dry in October.
Photo credit: Nancy McNally, Catholic Relief Services.
USAID Response to the Ethiopian Drought: Drought impact in West Arsi
Herds of animals can be seen for miles off in the distance, as their long journeys driven in search of water raise up impressive plumes of grey dust. Here, in the middle of Ethiopia's Rift Valley in Oromia, there would normally be perennial water sources, but the animals wander disoriented because even here, every drop is gone. USAID and Catholic Relief Services provide emergency food assistance to some of the most vulnerable Ethiopians.
Photo credit: Nancy McNally, Catholic Relief Services.
USAID Response to the Ethiopian Drought: Drought impact in West Arsi
This man in Aje, Ethiopia carries home his family's wheat ration.
Photo credit: Nancy McNally, Catholic Relief Services.
USAID Response to the Ethiopian Drought: Drought impact in West Arsi
Goats fare better than cattle, because they can clamber high and can strip off almost anything for food: dried out leaves, bark and even thorns, but even those are getting harder to find across this valley turned dustbowl.
Photo credit: Nancy McNally, Catholic Relief Services.
USAID Response to the Ethiopian Drought: Drought impact in West Arsi
Food distribution in Aje.
Photo credit: Nancy McNally, Catholic Relief Services.
USAID Response to the Ethiopian Drought: Stacking Sacks of Sorghum
WFP collects and distributes food items for the Somali Region in Ethiopia in warehouses in Jigjiga. Workers offload sorghum bags (50 KG each) from a truck into the warehouse. USAID donated the food.
Photo credit: Petterik Wiggers, World Food Programme.
USAID Response to the Ethiopian Drought: Women Protect Water Resources
Many communities have come to the realization that women are the best stewards of their water resources.
Photo credit: David Kahrmann, USAID.
USAID Response to the Ethiopian Drought: New Water Supply Schemes
Through the WATER project, USAID constructed and developed 43 new water supply schemes; rehabilitated/expanded a further 38 existing water supply systems; facilitated construction of 5,500 household latrines; and enabled 66 committees to implement natural resource management activities.
Photo credit: David Kahrmann, USAID.
USAID Response to the Ethiopian Drought: Drought impact in West Arsi
In Aje, families gather to take home rations of wheat and split yellow peas under the program, implemented by a number of national and international partners working under CRS' management.
Photo credit: Nancy McNally, Catholic Relief Services.
USAID Response to the Ethiopian Drought: Drought impact in West Arsi
Upwards of 80 percent of Ethiopians rely on mostly rain-fed agriculture for their food and income. Without adequate rains over the past rainy seasons, 10.2 million people are in need of emergency food assistance.
Photo credit: Nancy McNally, Catholic Relief Services.
USAID Response to the Ethiopian Drought: Drought impact in West Arsi
USAID is providing emergency food assistance to some of the most vulnerable Ethiopians. Catholic Relief Services (CRS) is the lead agency in the USAID-funded Joint Emergency Operation. In Aje, families gather to take home rations of wheat and split yellow peas under the program, implemented by a number of national and international partners working under CRS' management.
Photo credit: Nancy McNally, Catholic Relief Services.
USAID Response to the Ethiopian Drought: Pre-Positioning Food in Djiboutgi
Food assistance for Ethiopia being unloaded in Djibouti. Thanks to the early warning and careful tracking of the progression of El Niño in the Horn of Africa, USAID was able to pre-position some of the relief commodities Ethiopia is now using to meet increased needs caused by El Niño.
USAID Response to the Ethiopian Drought: Water Collecting
A woman collects water from a newly rehabilitated water point. More often than not, the burden of finding water for their families falls heavily on women and girls. In some parts of Ethiopia, women walk for hours to collect water even when there is no drought. Due to the current conditions in some areas, water can be a day’s walk away from where some people live.
Photo credit: Kelley Lynch.
USAID Response to the Ethiopian Drought: Drought impact in West Arsi
Wheat provided by the American people will help this woman's family during these lean times.
Photo credit: Nancy McNally, Catholic Relief Services.
USAID Response to the Ethiopian Drought: Year-Round Water in Gurbadley
The Gurbadley water supply scheme borehole is solar-powered. It has a 50,000 liter reservoir, a 1,500m pipeline and two water points, each with four taps. The scheme provides approximately 2,100 people with year-round access to a safe water source within a reduced fetching distance.
Photo credit: David Kahrmann, USAID.
USAID Response to the Ethiopian Drought: Fedha'ad Water Supply Scheme
The Fedha’ad water supply scheme provides year-round access to a safe water source within a reduced fetching distance for 4,550 people. It boasts a 50,000 liter reservoir, 3,500 meter pipeline, two animal troughs, and two water points, each with four taps
Photo credit: David Kahrmann, USAID.
USAID Response to the Ethiopian Drought: Livestock Traders Purchasing Livestock from Producers on the Dembel Market in Siti
USAID’s Pastoralists' Areas Resilience Improvement through Market Expansion activity is helping connect pastoralists with buyers for their livestock. In this photo, a woman is selling some of her animals to a livestock trader on the Dembel Market in Siti.
Photo credit: Mercy Corps.
USAID Response to the Ethiopian Drought: WATER Activity
Approximately 340,000 people have benefitted from USAID’s WATER activity. The activity has significantly improved pastoralists’ access to safe and sustainable water sources, improved hygiene practices and access to sanitation, and rangeland management practices to strengthen their resilience and mitigate conflict in Ethiopia’s Somali, Oromia, and Afar regions.
Photo credit: David Kahrmann, USAID.
USAID Response to the Ethiopian Drought: DART Visits Health Post
During a visit to a health post in Hawzien Woreda, USAID Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance Director Jeremy Konydnyk and the Disaster Assistance Response Team talked with mothers of young malnourished children about the severity of the drought. USAID partner GOAL is working with health extension workers to address community-based management of acute malnutrition.
Photo credit: Robert Sauers, USAID.
USAID Response to the Ethiopian Drought: Sharing
Children under the age of five and pregnant and lactating women suffering from malnutrition are enrolled in GOAL’s targeted supplementary feeding program. USAID, and its partner GOAL, work with health extension workers to reduce acute malnutrition among vulnerable groups through nutrition interventions in the Afar, Amhara, Gambella, Oromia, SNNP and Tigray regions.
Photo credit: Robert Sauers, USAID.
USAID Response to the Ethiopian Drought: Drought impact in West Arsi
People living in the rural hinterlands travel to the cities in search of water. The trip can take several hours in both directions, which takes up the better part of a day. Those who have donkey carts fill up whatever containers they can and as many as they can afford.
Photo credit: Nancy McNally, Catholic Relief Services.
USAID Response to the Ethiopian Drought: Drought impact in West Arsi
A woman prepares a food ration sack for the trip home.
Photo credit: Nancy McNally, Catholic Relief Services.
USAID Response to the Ethiopian Drought: Gurbadley Water Scheme
Before USAID and International Rescue Committee completed the Gurbadley scheme in February 2014, the people and their livestock shared sink holes dug in a small stream which passes through the village. Now the sink holes are reserved for livestock as people regained their dignity and well-being with the new safe water scheme.
Photo credit: David Kahrmann, USAID.
USAID Response to the Ethiopian Drought: WFP Warehouse in Jigjiga
WFP collects and distributes food items for the Somali Region in Ethiopia in warehouses in Jijiga.
Photo credit: Petterik Wiggers, World Food Programme.
USAID Response to the Ethiopian Drought: Drought Impact in West Arsi
In Aje, a man ties his family's ration bags tightly to make sure nothing will be spilled on the journey home.
Photo credit: Nancy McNally, Catholic Relief Services.
USAID Response to the Ethiopian Drought: Elders Talk with Ambassadors
Elder residents of Kobo who survived the 1984 famine told ambassadors Haslach and O’Hara that the cumulative effects of several bad rainy seasons have made this the worst drought they can remember. They say they appreciate the assistance they are receiving but expressed their frustration that they are not able to better harvest rains which they do get in order to be self-sufficient.
Photo credit: David Kahrmann, USAID.
USAID Response to the Ethiopian Drought: Food from the American People
Fifty kilogram bags of wheat provided through the assistance of the American people are stored inside prior to distribution.
Photo credit: David Kahrmann, USAID.
USAID Response to the Ethiopian Drought: USAID DART Visits Food Distribution Site
While visiting a food distribution site in Hawzien, USAID partners Relief Society of Tigray and Catholic Relief Services briefed USAID Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance Director Jeremy Konydnyk and Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART) Leader Kate Farnsworth about how the drought is affecting food distribution in the region.
Photo credit: Robert Sauers, USAID.
USAID Response to the Ethiopian Drought: Drought impact in West Arsi
People living in the rural hinterlands travel to the cities in search of water. The trip can take several hours in both directions, which takes up the better part of a day. Those who have donkey carts fill up whatever containers they can and as many as they can afford. Some people don't even have donkey carts, however.
Photo credit: Nancy McNally, Catholic Relief Services.
USAID Response to the Ethiopian Drought: Drought Impact in West Arsi
This little girl sits at the bottom of a basin that used to be a watering hole for an entire community of about 30 families. Her hands and feet are covered with a thin film of powdery gray silt, just like all the village children. There's no water to even wash it off.
Photo credit: Nancy McNally, Catholic Relief Services.
USAID Response to the Ethiopian Drought: Commercial Destocking On the Dembel Market
Lack of grazing land caused by drought requires farmers to de-stock some of their animals to buy feed for the rest of their herd. USAID’s pastoralist resilience project is helping to connect them with markets in areas not affected by the drought in order to prevent those animals from staying in the area and exacerbating the grazing problem. Thousands of animals have already been destocked through the USAID’s Pastoralists' Areas Resilience Improvement through Market Expansion activity.
Photo credit: Mercy Corps.
USAID Response to the Ethiopian Drought: Unloading Incoming Food Shipment
WFP collects and distributes food items for the Somali Region in Ethiopia in warehouses in Jigjiga. Workers offload sorghum bags (50 KG each) from a truck into the warehouse. USAID donated the food.
Photo credit: Petterik Wiggers, World Food Programme.
USAID Response to the Ethiopian Drought: Food Distribution in Hawzien
A resident of the Hawzien Woreda carries a box of cooking oil from the food distribution site. The oil will be distributed to food insecure families in her community. USAID purchased the oil for residents in the region in support of the Government of Ethiopia's Productive Safety Net Program.
Photo credit: Robert Sauers, USAID.
USAID Response to the Ethiopian Drought: Water Rehabilitation Site
USAID Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance Director Jeremy Konydnyk discusses how Ethiopia's drought is affecting residents in the Enderta Woreda of Tigray Region. A Catholic Relief Services representative (right) is explaining how the current well rehabilitation will help alleviate the suffering by community members.
Photo credit: Robert Sauers, USAID.
USAID Response to the Ethiopian Drought: Unloading an Incoming Food Shipment
WFP collects and distributes food items for the Somali Region in Ethiopia in warehouses in Jigjiga. Workers offload sorghum bags (50 KG each) from a truck into the warehouse. USAID donated the food.
Photo credit: Petterik Wiggers, World Food Programme.
USAID Response to the Ethiopian Drought: Drought Impact in West Arsi
Measuring out a family's split yellow pea ration In Aje.
Photo credit: Nancy McNally, Catholic Relief Services.
USAID Response to the Ethiopian Drought: Drought impact in West Arsi
CRS is providing emergency food assistance provided by the American people to some of the most vulnerable Ethiopians, as the lead agency in the USAID-funded Joint Emergency Operation. In Aje, families gather to take home rations of wheat and split yellow peas under the program, implemented by a number of national and international partners working under CRS' management.
Photo credit: Nancy McNally, Catholic Relief Services.
USAID Response to the Ethiopian Drought: Meeting with Hawzien Residents
At a food distribution site in Hawzien, community elders describe how this drought compares with previous droughts to USAID Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance Director Jeremy Konydnyk (left).
Photo credit: Robert Sauers, USAID.
Last updated: March 16, 2020
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