Issue No. 150

Gender Matters: Drought and Inequality in Ethiopia’s Somali Region 
 

The Somali region has been hit hard by the drought in the Horn of Africa. This year marks the 5th year without a proper rainy season. Pastoralists make up the majority of the region’s population. Herds of camels, cattle, sheep and goats, the wealth and pride of the nomadic pastoralists, are dying of thirst and hunger under the helpless eyes of their owners. Drought brings the collapse of whole social systems and value chains. Without resources to withstand the economic shocks of drought, entire families seek remedies of last resort in the refugee camps. The International Organization of Migration (IOM) estimates that there are over 342,000 drought-displaced people in Ethiopia’s Somali region. Not all of them are Ethiopians. The border with Somalia, the longest between Ethiopia and any of its neighbors, is very porous
 
The images of the advancing desert, the carcasses of cattle near evaporated water sources, and the rare burnt plants seem a prelude to hell. Exile in the camps is not much better.  Living conditions in the overcrowded camps are notoriously unhealthy. Cholera has reappeared and food is scarce. According to UNOCHA, between January and November 2022, an estimated 626,900 children under the age of 5 were given nutrition services for SAM (severe acute malnutrition) treatment across Ethiopia. A particular spike was observed in SAM admissions into stabilization centers in the Somali region. 
 
The situation is dire for everyone affected by the drought, but women are paying an especially high price for this ecological crisis. 
 
According to Plan International, which studied gender inequalities in the face of famine in four countries in the Horn of Africa, women have limited access to food distribution. Their place in traditional societies means that they will often take second place in food distribution if men are not present to represent their households. In their own families, women will often eat last, despite their heavy workload. Indeed, in crisis situations it is not uncommon for women to start small businesses to support their households, in addition to carrying out their usual grueling domestic tasks, doubling their workload.  
 
Within the confines of their households, many women must also endure Intimate Partner Violence (IPV). According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), "IPV is one of the most common forms of violence against women and includes physical, sexual, and emotional abuse, and controlling behaviours by an intimate partner." Less visible than third-party violence, IPV is also reported less, due to its private nature, and the lack of material, social, and cultural independence of women in much of Somali society. 
 
IPV in Somali culture, and Somali refugee camps, did not suddenly emerge during the current drought. As early as 2017, the problem was sufficiently acute to lead to awareness and prevention programs in the Dollo Ado camp. While some progress may have been made since that time, the current drought has given a new dimension to the problem. The impact of the drought and the reduced circumstances of men have driven some to take out their frustration on the women in their lives. To make matters worse, the consumption of khat has exploded. When chewed, the leaves of this shrub, grown in the Horn of Africa and the southern Arabian Peninsula, release cathinone, with effects similar to those of amphetamines. Vandana Sharma, a visiting scientist at the Harvard School of Public Health, published a study in 2020 linking humanitarian crisis, khat consumption, and IPV. 
 
There has also been an increase in forced marriage of young girls. For some families, a girl out of the home is one less mouth to feed. A girl may often be considered free labor in her new household. In short, a girl child is expected to be profitable, and no child should be valued as a means of profit. Overall, the current drought has also had a negative impact on the education of children and adolescents, but the rate of girls leaving school has soared. 
 
Finally, we need to talk more about climate injustice. The people most impacted are not the ones most responsible for climate change. The climate footprint of a nomadic Somali family is almost zero and yet it is such families who have lost nearly everything because of drought. Women and children of indigenous populations are often the first to suffer from climate disruption, while they play almost no part in decision-making that could mitigate the crisis. 
 
Women’s vulnerability to climate change requires mainstreaming gender concerns in development planning and funding. Women are suffering, and gender matters.