Land that has become arid, death of livestock, famine: the drought pushes the inhabitants of Ethiopia to flee their villages.
The alternation of dry seasons and rainy seasons has always punctuated the life of herders in the Horn of Africa. But for four seasons, the water is no longer there. Somalia, Kenya and Ethiopia are experiencing their worst drought in decades, the United Nations World Food Program (WFP) said in February 2022. This situation has ravaged crops and killed more than three million animals. With twenty million people facing the risk of severe starvation, the WFP is requesting over $300 million more to deal with this situation.
In Ethiopia, it hardly rained a drop of water in April 2022, while this month is one of the wettest of the year. But the drought has also damaged the social organization of these communities by causing a breakdown of society. Villages are abandoned, families split up and children, even sick ones, are often neglected because animals, essential to survival, have to be saved.
12 photos of Eduardo Soteras who went to meet these populations, illustrate this point according to a report by Aymeric Vincenot of AFP.