Heavy rains and weeks of flooding in Ethiopia have killed nearly 900 people and displaced tens of thousands more since late July.
In the southeastern town of Omerate, near the border with Kenya (map of Ethiopia), flash floods stranded hundreds of victims on outcrops surrounded by rising waters.
But when rescuers tried to airlift these people to safety, many refused to leave. The reason: They didn't want to abandon their livestock.
The floods come on the heels of a major drought earlier this year that killed thousands of domestic animals.
The combined disasters could inflict a devastating toll on Ethiopia's livestock population, which is believed to be the largest in Africa and is crucial to the survival of millions of Ethiopians.
Salvador Fernandez-Rivera is a scientist based in Adis Abeba (Addis Ababa) working for the International Livestock Research Institute.
"The main reason for local people refusing to be evacuated is to provide care to surviving livestock, the main asset they will have to sustain their families after the flood," Fernandez-Rivera said.
Dirk Hoekstra, an agricultural economist at the institute, noted that "some of the people evacuated earlier are trying to get back to look after their cattle."
And Awala Rendela, a resident of Omerate, told the Reuters news service, "Survival without cattle is meaningless. No milk, no life. No cattle, no life."
Food and Skins
About 75 million people live in Ethiopia, along with about 44 million cattle, 24 million sheep, 23 million goats, and 2 million camels.
The Ethiopian economy is still heavily influenced by its socialist past. Under the country's constitution, land belongs to the "state and people."
|
SOURCES AND RELATED WEB SITES
|
