Messeriya suffers lost of over 36% livestock to drought

By Ngor Arol Garang

December 15, 2009 (KHARTOUM) — Once a paradise of livestock keepers on its vast plains, Sadama, Satep among other areas of Southern Kordofan State town of Muglad have suffered a massive depletion of its erstwhile large herds.

The severe drought that hit the area and other areas in the region since last year has decimated hundreds of thousands of livestock herds.

Statistics made available to the Sudan Tribune today by officials from the area indicate that at least 36 per cent of the entire livestock population in the area has perished because of the drought last year.

In an interview with Hassan Musa, leader of one of the Messeriya tribes from Muglad, he said, for most nomadic cattle keepers in Satep and elsewhere in the northern regions, livestock is a significant source of income and food.

He went further to reveal that Sadama and its surroundings have a total of over 707 cattle, goats, sheep and donkeys, camels just to name a few, but more than a half of them have died because of shortage of water and pasture.

However, he said about 90 per cent of the remaining herds are reported to have been driven to neighboring states of Northern Bahr el Ghazal and Warrap in South Sudan following a clash with Southern police forces at Waragor in Bienhom county, Unity State in search of forage and water.

According to him, the most critically affected by the drought last year includes Satep, Sadama, Meram, Zaarapat and Umm Kheir just in the extreme North of Abyei now cut into Abyei by PCA ruling had some herders of cattle lost up to over 24 per cent of their cattle.

The drought, which local people say has persisted for the last three seasons in succession, has this time around not spared donkeys, considered to be resistant to dry conditions.

In the four quarters alone a total of 40 per cent of all donkeys in the 23 homesteads surveyed perished.

Earlier the report seen by Sudan Tribune indicates that the death rate of shoats (both goats and sheep) was found to be 16 per cent each in the four wards visited to assess the drought impact in the area by Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations in collaboration with Southern Kordofan Ministry of health.

In an interview with official from FAO who declined to be named said the situation is harsh and has not only led to the death of animals, but food shortage among people and closure of schools due to lack of adequate boreholes and health facilities.

People walk long distances to either Muglad or Heglig for basic health services; he said adding this becomes difficult for pupils who fall sick to get quick medical attentions.

The report also says, in normal years, areas currently affected gets average of 200mm to 400mm of rain in the lowlands and 500mm to 700mm on the few high lands tops that dot the landscape.

However, in the last three years, the rainfall recorded had shockingly gone down to unmemorable records.

The immediate impact had been a shortage of water for both humans and livestock and drying up of the grazing lands, leading to deaths of the latter.

Official statistics indicate that these areas have a total of 38607 livestock made up of 56,469 cattle, 29,697 goats, 292,971 sheep and 289.730 donkeys.

In an official briefing to Ahmed Harun, Southern Kordofan State governor in his recent visit to Muglad with his Deputy Adam Abdullah Aziz El Hilu, he was told that 36 per cent of them have perished while over 78 per cent of the animals that survived have been driven to neighboring Southern States to look for pasture and water.

He was also informed of recent clash which occurred between nomads and Southern police stationed at Waragor in Biennhom County, Unity State.

Because of the semi-arid conditions; the 6,937 square kilometer from these drought affected areas has not been suitable for crop farming even in years of significantly heavier rains.

(ST)