Holding Back the Floods near Bahir Dar

Holding Back the Floods near Bahir Dar

In 2007 alone, a total of 31,250 households and 84,292 acres of land were affected by flooding in the Bahir Dar rural area, part of the Amhara region of Ethiopia. While a flood mitigation project already exists in the region, it has left several of the most vulnerable areas open to flooding.  In 2007 16,932 households in these areas were affected by flooding.  Therefore UNOCHA has financed a massive relief operation to be implemented jointly in Amhara by multiple NGOs, including Food for the Hungry Ethiopia.

 

Food for the Hungry Ethiopia is extending work on the previous flood mitigation so as to cover previous unprotected areas, as well as improving the original flood mitigation sites.  We are providing flood mitigation measures that include: de-silting the rivers; raising their embankments; strengthening the embankments with locally transported soil and vegetation; and constructing river crossings. FH Ethiopia is also educating people living in the affected areas about flood mitigation techniques.

The rains are just about to start here in Ethiopia, so the direct effects cannot yet be seen. However, three river crossings are completed and a fourth is under construction. Food for the Hungry Ethiopia is expecting this work to protect the homes of the people in the flood regions, and that the crossings will allow them access to people and businesses on the other side of the river. The hope is that through education the people in these districts will be able to maintain the embankments and crossings, and so help protect their homes and households.

The Feeding of the 24,904

The Feeding of the 24,904

 

What’s happening?

 

Belo Jeganfoy and Sasiga are two districts in western Ethiopia. The livelihood of the people living in these districts comes primarily from agriculture. May and June are the best months for planting crops and preparing for the rainy season. However, during May-June 2008 clashes broke out between the Gumuz and Oromo ethnic groups in Sasiga and Belo Jeganfoy districts. These clashes killed more than a hundred people and displaced thousands more. The aftereffects of this conflict have been compounded by the interruption of the planting season; now, thousands of people in Sasiga and Belo Jeganfoy are food insecure.

 

Food for the Hungry Ethiopia is helping by providing a general ration of food commodities (Sorghum, Haricot Bean, and edible oil) to 24,904 people in the affected areas. Women who are lactating or pregnant, and children under five years of age, will also be assisted with supplementary food. This aid will last for five months in Sasiga, and four months in Belo Jeganfoy (where the government is already providing one month of relief).

 

What do we see?

 

As the program grows forward, Food for the Hungry Ethiopia expects to see the increase of food consumption (average number of meals per day) in the people whose livelihoods have been endangered by the conflict in Belo Jeganfoy and Sasiga, as well as improved nutritional status in mothers and young children. Through this Food for the Hungry Ethiopia intends to save livelihoods and lives.

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