ETHIOPIA: Pastoral elders give firsthand accounts of their suffering

Photo: Léa-Lisa Westerhoff/IRINKjell Magne Bondevik (right), the UN humanitarian special envoy for the Horn of Africa, addresses the elders FENTALLE, 2 May 2006 (IRIN) -  Under the shade of acacia trees, 100 elders from pastoral communities in Ethiopia asked United Nations Special Humanitarian Envoy Kjell Magne Bondevik to help find lasting solutions to cope with the prevailing regional drought and preserve their way of life.The traditional meeting, which was held at the Kereyu Gada village, some 190 km south of the capital, Addis Ababa, was part of the envoy's five-nation mission to the drought-plagued countries of the Horn of...

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HORN OF AFRICA: Pastoralists address common issues

Photo: Walter EggenbergerThe meeting brought together pastoralists from 19 countries. YABELLO, 26 July 2006 (IRIN) -  In southern Ethiopia, 300 pastoralist leaders representing 19 countries and 60 different groups met in July to share experiences and address their common problems: conflict, low productivity, limited market access and the development of structures to support their way of life. "We pastoralists are increasingly becoming tenants in our lands," said Boru Guyo, representing the Borana-Saku pastoral community from Marsabit district in northern Kenya. "We have lost our livestock and therefore our livelihood and as a result...

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KENYA: Pokot, Samburu conflict displaces thousands

Photo: John Nyaga/IRINSamburu herdsmen in northern Kenya. ISIOLO, 17 October 2006 (IRIN) -  Heavily pregnant and with a bullet lodged in her leg, Mary Lenayasa hitched, ran and trekked for two days to reach a church at a remote centre hosting thousands of displaced families in Samburu District, northern Kenya.Lenayasa managed to escape death during an attack by bandits in which six people, including her husband, were killed a month ago, forcing her to flee."I lost everything - my husband, all our livestock and good neighbours," she said, cradling a newborn boy, whom she delivered a day after arriving at the Sugutamarmar Church compound...

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ETHIOPIA-KENYA: Gov't orders Ethiopian asylum-seekers to leave

Photo: IRIN ISIOLO, 21 February 2007 (IRIN) -  Ethiopian asylum-seekers, who have been camped near the Kenyan border town of Moyale, have urged the government to rescind an order forcing them to return to Ethiopia, saying they feared for their safety.At least 1,000 people fled their homes along the Kenya-Ethiopia border and headed towards Moyale after a wave of violent conflict that left at least 11 people dead and scores injured on 9 February. Ever since they arrived, the 1,010 asylum-seekers have been camped in the open in Funyanyatta and Kinisa area, without assistance."I have never been a refugee before," said Hadija Diba, who...

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KENYA: Defying orders to surrender illegal guns

Photo: Mike Pflanz/IRINConditions in northern Kenya are harsh, with drought a common feature MARSABIT, 22 March 2007 (IRIN) -  The severe drought in northern Kenya last year and cattle rustling have wiped out more than half of Halake Wario's livestock, but failed to dampen his determination to remain a pastoralist. "Livestock keeping is part of my Borana tradition but it is risky and tough," Wario told IRIN in Marsabit district. "Many people have been killed in the past and livestock stolen, [leaving] many families poor, but I wish the same lifestyle for my children." Most of the deaths occurred when raiders...

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Blog: Pastoralists, in their own words…

Photo: Jane Some/IRINView of a semi-arid landscape in Isiolo, eastern Kenya. July 2007. Livestock keeping is the main activity in arid and semi-arid areas, which are mostly inhabited by pastoralists. NAIROBI, 6 August 2008 (IRIN) -  OCHA Pastoralist Voices report for July/August 2008 carries pastoralist views on the impact of protracted drought, and rising food and fuel prices in East Africa. Extracts below:Drought“In my 80 years living as a pastoralist it has never been like this. The rainfall pattern has been unpredictable and there is a migration of pastoralists from this community to the urban centres of Nairobi, Uganda...

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KENYA: Hundreds displaced in “drought” clashes

Photo: John Nyaga/IRINThe drought in northern Kenya has led to death and displacement as herders fight over grazing land and wate ISIOLO, 18 September 2008 (IRIN) -  At least six people have been killed and hundreds displaced following days of fighting over water and pasture along the Isiolo and Samburu district border as drought-related conflict escalated in northern Kenya."We have so far managed to find six bodies but still suspect that more bodies might be lying in the bush," Marius Tum, a senior police superintendent in Isiolo, told IRIN. The bodies were riddled with bullets."More attacks were reported last night ... the animals...

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