Taemo Hadish is a farmer in Haweleti, in Raya Zebo, Tigray region. She says her cattle have become too weak to move because of a lack of fodder, while the farmland she relies on to feed her family have failed to grow.
“We have not seen rain for the whole year,” she says. “Our animals are dying because there is nothing for them to eat.”
The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has warned that parts of Ethiopia could experience below-average rainfall during the June–September rainy season as El Niño conditions develop.
In northern Ethiopia, particularly Tigray, conflict-related disruptions to farming seasons have left 21 woredas at high risk of severe food insecurity, with 2.45 million people in need of emergency food assistance.
According to a July FAO report, more than 18,000 livestock have died in Yaqer locality, Afar region, due to shortages of water and fodder.
Farmers and woreda officials interviewed by the BBC say farmers in three woredas in Tigray region are struggling because of delayed rains linked to El Niño. The weather patterns have caused drought in the southern, south-eastern and central zones, while some woredas that received rainfall have experienced heavy hailstorms and flooding.
In its May seasonal forecast, the Ethiopian Meteorology Institute warned that parts of southern and eastern Tigray, North and South Wollo, Afar and eastern Ethiopia were likely to receive below-average rainfall. It also forecast dry conditions in northern and eastern parts of the country in August.
And yet Debretsion who calls himself president wants to take the people to war? How sick is that?