The drought in the Horn of Africa and the protracted conflict has created a humanitarian emergency that has led to a declaration of famine in several regions of Somalia and the Somali region of Ethiopia. As a result of depleted water resources, widespread internal displacement, malnutrition, and inadequate water and sanitation facilities, cholera outbreaks have occurred.
This study represents an initial attempt to assess patterns of displacement related to droughts in selected countries of the Horn of Africa, specifically the border regions of Kenya, Ethiopia and Somalia. The study explores several scenarios to identify potential impacts of climate change and demographic trends and to test the effectiveness of measures to prevent and respond to droughts.
The settling of formerly mobile pastoral populations is occurring rapidly throughout East Africa. Pastoral sedentarization has been encouraged by international development agencies and national
governments to alleviate problems of food insecurity, health care delivery, and national
integration. However, it has not been demonstrated that abandoning the pastoral way of
life, and particularly access to livestock products, has been beneficial to the health and well-being of
pastoral populations.