Environmental Challenges in Africa

The Ethiopian Somali Region is often hid by drought. Due to climate change this event hits the region nowadays more severely and more often. The majority of its population are pastoralists. Because of their dependency on natural resources they are severely affected by the water shortages during these droughts.Government agencies and aid agencies are usually involved in relieve efforts during droughts to save peoples lives and livelihoods. To enable them to react timely Drought Contingency Plans are developed, predefining needed activities, preparatory tasks, timeframes, actors and costs as well as early warning systems.In Gashamo and Aware Districts no Drought Contingency Plans exist yet. During the fieldwork it was also observed that neither the administration offices nor the aid agencies are in proper contact with the communities. There are also hardly any relevant data available.A new trend in the live of the pastoral communities is the reduction in migration. This is the case because even through migration no regions with better conditions can be reached.