Oxfam field staff visited 6 of the 9 zones in the region and reported a severe lack of water and a prevalence of diseases often associated with malnutrition such as severe diarrhoea. Death rates in the town are increasing and 45 children under the age of five are reported to have died in the last 20 days. There are serious water shortages with many wells empty or with just a little dirty water. Large numbers of people are on the move swelling the population of towns and villages. The population in one district of the Jigjiga zone has swelled by 40,000 people.
Water is delivered by tanker and tightly rationed.
Oxfam has launched an initial response costing 80,000 aimed at improving the water supply by fixing boreholes and funding tankering of water. This is aimed at halting the spread of diarrhoea that can prove fatal for children and old people if they are seriously short of food. In addition, water can help sustain livestock, which are vital to the future of their families. Conditions in the Somali region are symptomatic of the situation across Ethiopia. If the rains fail across the country, Ethiopia could be plunged into a crisis.