Famine in Jor District, Southwest Ethiopia
By Omot Chol Onguero
April 2, 2007 (GAMBELLA) – Ethiopia is Africa’s oldest independent country, but the nation is better known for its sporadic droughts and famines, particularly in the Northern part of the country. When the Northern part of Ethiopia, Wolo and Tigray were hit by drought decades ago, the central government decided to resettle some of households into Gambella region because of its land productivity. However, the food shortage this time has plagued one of the fertile parts of Ethiopia, Gambella. According to our informant in the area, Jor district has been facing a serious food shortage in 2007. So far four children have died of starvation. More human lives are believed to be vanishing unless nongovernmental organizations (NGO) intervene. The Gambella Regional Government has no capacity to solve the problem of food in the region because of instability that plagues the region. An eyewitness said that he has seen regional government sending small quantities food but that did not help at all.
Even though, these communities used to get the food ration from Disaster Prevention Preparedness and Food Security Office, the ration was not enough to alleviate the food crisis. In addition to that the Food Security Office ran out of food. The Gambella Region Office is believed to have made a great effort to solve the problem, but it was in vain. The Federal Government, as in every crisis in the region, is passive about the food crisis. As a coping mechanism, the people now are collecting fruits and roots from wild plants and they are also hunting wild animals to get something to eat.
The Flooded Gilo River in October and November, 2006, which destroyed all the crops at the river bank, is blamed for this natural disaster. On the other hand, the Nuer tribe who scramble for the grazing land and fishing in the region have also done their damage to Anyuak people and livestock. Murle tribe in their part has also engaged in raiding the Anyuak livestock. In some villages due to fears and political turmoil in the region people failed to cultivate their farms. Jor District is one of the eleven districts of Gambella Regional State. It is characterized by low /no infrastructure availability. The district has only two schools cemented and has iron sheet roofs but the others are built locally with woods and grasses. It is also connected to Pinyudo (Gog district town) by seasonal road. It is entirely Anywaa/Anuak community who live in this district except its town (Centowa) where there are other communities. The people depend largely on sedentary crop farming [and cattle rearing to some extent].
According to international human rights groups, the Anyuak people in Ethiopia have been the victims of numerous human rights violations by the Ethiopian National Defense Force. The worst incident occurred on Dec. 13, 2003, when the ambush and murder of eight refugee workers, blamed on armed Anyuak bandits, sparked a three-day rampage against the Anyuak in Gambella by elements of the Ethiopian National Defense Force. More than 425 Anyuak, mostly educated men and boys over the age of 16 were shot or hacked to death by angry mob and government forces.
The Anyuak have long suffered from ethnic strife in Gambella, which began when the previous regime, a military junta known as the Derg, forced the relocation of 60,000 highlanders into the Anyuak homeland. At the same time, civil war in Sudan forced thousands of refugees into the region. Unlike famine in the Northern part of the country, the famine in Jor District, the eleventh district of Gambella Regional State, could be blamed on different factors such as political unrest in the region which has engulfed the region since December 2003, fear of threat from hostile neighboring tribes (the Nuer and the Murle), and finally the natural disaster (drought and flood).
In the Gambella town, there are many incidents of food poisoning of the Anyuak clients in restaurants. Many people have died. This has not been reported widely due to fear. It is recurring involving about 100 cases to date. The Anyuak must be reminded to be careful in their choice of eating out.
Over all, food shortage in Jor District is a great problem for the people but the central government of Ethiopia is very passive as usual even in cases of cholera.
At Jor, the children and the elderly are the most affected and are dying by the day according to sources in the region.
* Omot Chol Onguero resides in Ethiopia and can be reached at: [email protected]