Somali State warns of water problems

Residents in two areas of the Somali State, southeastern Ethiopia, have warned that people and cattle are suffering from water shortages, according to state-run Radio Ethiopia 11 April. Three representatives from Gashemo, Aware, Danetu and Warder said ponds and water points had run dry. Muhammad Rashid, head of the Somali State’s disaster prevention bureau, had “confirmed the threat of drought”, Radio Ethiopia said. Rashid said his bureau was seeking funds from donor agencies to cover costs associated with ferrying water to remote areas where people and cattle were threatened by the drought. Humanitarian sources told IRIN that there was also concern over water shortages in parts of the state’s Gode and Afder zones. An NGO source operating in the area said that while the problem was not as acute as last year, it was significant in the way it was affecting the recovery stage of pastoralists hit hard by drought over the last three years.