10.3  Drought

Drought is not a new word to many Ethiopians. Drought is the absence of rain for an extended period, often for a season or more. Climate change is associated with the significant reduction in rainfall and increase in droughts that is already apparent in some parts of Ethiopia. Droughts have caused loss of human life, livestock and property, as well as migration of people (MoWR/NMA, 2007).

More than 85% of the population of Ethiopia are farmers. Most of the agriculture in the country is small scale and therefore highly dependent on rainfall and traditional technologies. Drought affects agriculture by damaging crops and decreasing crop yield (Figure 10.5), which causes food shortages not only in rural areas but also in towns and cities. In the worst periods of drought there may be widespread famine, when the extreme shortage of food results in many deaths. The drought that occurred in 1984, leading to a famine that killed more than one million people, is still fresh in the memories of many Ethiopians.

Figure 10.5  Crop failure due to drought in Ethiopia.