Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia Public Disclosure Authorized Ministry of Finance and Economic Development (MoFED)
Emergency Recovery Project (ERP) Public Disclosure Authorized Baseline Survey Report
on Environmental and Social Assessment (ESA) in Afar, Amhara and Tigray Regions Public Disclosure Authorized
Prepared By
Mohammed Mussa - ESA Team Leader With Retta Assegid, Worku Gebeyehu, Kelkilachew Ali, Mesfin Admassu, Etalem Mengistu and Aregay Demeke
May 2003 Public Disclosure Authorized TABLE OF CONTENTS
LIST OF ACRONYMS ...... V PREFACE ...... VI EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ...... VII INTRODUCTION ...... 12 1. BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES .. 12 2. STUDY METHODOLOGY AND LIMITATIONS .. 14 2.1 SOURCES OF INFORMATION AND SURVEY TECHNIQUES .14 2.2 SAMPLING PROCEDURE .5 2.3. LIMITATIONS OF THE SURVEY .15 2.4. ORGANIZATION OF THE REPORT .15 CHAPTER ONE: TIGRAY REGION ...... 17 0. REGIONAL PROFILE .. 17 1. INTERNALLY DISPLACED PEOPLE (IDPS) .. 17 1.1. BACKGROUND .17 1.2. DISPLACEMENT SITUATION .18 1.3. SOCIO-ECONOMIC CHARACTERISTICS .19 1.4. COMMUNITY INFRASTRUCTURE .21 1.5. HOUSING RECONSTRUCTION .22 1.6. LIVESTOCK HOLDING .24 1.7. LANDMINE EFFECTS .26 1.8. FOOD ASSISTANCE ASSESSMENT .27 1.9. ESTIMATES OF FOOD ASSISTANCE .28 1.10. NEEDS AND PRIORITIES .29 1.11. HIV/AIDS AWARENESS .31 2. FAMILIES OF THE DECEASED .. 32 2.1 SOCIO-ECONOMIC CHARACTERISTICS .32 2.2. OCCUPATION OF THE HOUSEHOLD MEMBERS .34 2.3. ASSET HOLDINGS .35 2.4. HOUSEHOLD NEEDS AND PRIORITIES .36 2.5. ASSISTANCE REQUIREMENT .37 2.6. HIV/AIDS AWARENESS .38 3. DEPORTEES..39 3.1. BASELINE INFORMATION ON DEPORTEES .39 3.2. POTENTIAL INCOME GENERATING ACTIVITIES (IGS) .41 3.3. RECOMMENDATIONS .43 3.4. ESTIMATE OF FOOD ASSISTANCE .44 4. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS .. 45 4.1. CONCLUSIONS .45 4.2. RECOMMENDATIONS .46 CHAPTER TWO: AMHARA NATION REGIONAL STATE ...... 47 0. REGIONAL PROFILE .. 47 1. FAMILIES OF THE DECEASED .. 47 1.1. BACKGROUND .47 1.2. SOCIO-ECONOMIC CHARACTERISTICS OF BENEFICIARY HOUSEHOLDS .48 1.3. SKILLS AND OCCUPATION OF RESPONDENTS .50 1.4. ASSET HOLDINGS ...... 51 1.5. NEEDS AND PRIORITIES ...... 53 1.6. INCOME GENERATING SCHEMES AND TRAINING ...... 54 1.7. TRAINING NEEDS AND POTENTIALS ...... 56 1.8. HIV/AIDS AWARENESS ...... 57 2. DEPORTEES ...... 58 2.1. DEMOGRAPHIC CHARACTERISTICS ...... 58 2.2 DEPORTATION AND LOSS OF PROPERTY ...... 59 2.3 EDUCATIONAL STATUS OF DEPORTEES ...... 59 2.4 CURRENT LIVELIHOOD SITUATION ...... 59 2.5 FOOD ASSISTANCE ...... 60 2.6 ACCESS TO SOCIAL SERVICES ...... 62 3. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS ...... 63 CHAPTER THREE: AFAR REGIONAL STATE .65 0. REGIONAL PROFILE ...... 65 1. INTERNALLY DISPLACED PEOPLE (IDPS) ...... 66 1.1. BACKGROUND ...... 66 1.2. SOCIO-DEMOGRAPHIC CHARACTERISTICS ...... 66 1.3. ACTIVITIES OF IDPS ...... 66 1.4. DISPLACEMENT AND PROPERTY LOSS ...... 67 1.5. LIVESTOCK HOLDING ...... 68 1.6. LANDMINES ...... 69 1.7. FOOD ASSISTANCE ...... 70 1.8. ACCESS TO SOCIAL SERVICES ...... 70 1.9. MAJOR PROBLEMS, NEEDS AND PRIORITIES ...... 71 1.11. HlV/AIDS ...... 71 2. FAMILIES OF THE DECEASED ...... 72 2.1. BACKGROUND ...... 72 2.2. SOCIO-ECONOMIC CHARACTERISTICS ...... 72 2.3. NEEDS AND PRIORITIES ...... 73 2.4. HIV/A1DS ...... 73 3. DEPORTEES ...... 74 3.1. BACKGROUND ...... 74 3.2 DEPORTATION ...... 74 3.3. SOCIAL INTEGRATION OF THE DEPORTEES ...... 74 3.4. ACCESS TO SOCIAL SERVICES ...... 75 3.5. FOOD ASSISTANCE ...... 76 4. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS ...... 77 CHAPTER FOUR: ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS OF REHABILITATION INTERVENTIONS .78 1. INTERVENTIONS FOR INTERNALLY DISPLACED PEOPLE (IDPS) .79 2. INTERVENTIONS FOR FAMILIES OF DECEASED .80 3. INTERVENTIONS FOR DEPORTEES .81 CHAPTER FIVE: SOCIO-ECONOMIC IMPACTS OF THE INTERVENTIONS - SAFEGUARD ISSUES .82
iii CHAPTER SIX: MONITORING AND EVALUATION ...... 83 1. CURRENT PRACTICES .83 2. CONSTRAINTS IN THE EXISTING M & E ACTIVITIES .83 3. PROPOSED MONITORING AND EVALUATION SYSTEM .84 4. RAPID ASSESSMENT .85 5. EVALUATION .85 CHAPTER SEVEN: REHABILITATION STRATEGY FOR DEPORTEES ...... 86 1. GENERAL REHABILITATION STRATEGY .. 86 I.1. NEEDS ASSESSMENT .86 1.2. PREPARATION OF INDIVIDUAL BUSINESS PLANS .86 1.3. MARKETS AND FINANCIAL COST AND BENEFIT ANALYSIS FOR SOME IGS .87 1.4. PARTICIPATION OF THE DEPORTEES IN THE PROCESS .87 1.5. FINANCING .87 1.6. INSTITUTIONAL ARRANGEMENT .87 1.7. SELECTION OF PILOT TOWNS .88 1.8. PROVISION OF TRAINING .88 1.9. FOOD ASSISTANCE .88 1.10. SHELTER .88 1.11. PREPARATION OF ACTION PLAN .89 1.12. MONITORING .89 2. REHABILITATION STRATEGY FOR THE VULNERABLE GROUPS . .89 2.1. NEEDS AND PRIORITIES .89 2.2. REHABILITATION PLANS .90 2.3. INSTITUTIONAL ARRANGEMENT .90 2.4. PROVISION OF TRAINING .90 2.5. ORPHANS .91 2.6. THE ELDERLY (AGED) .91 2.6. THE DISABLED .92 2.7. MONITORING .93
iv LIST OF ACRONYMS
AARRDP Agency for Assistance of Refugees, Returnees and Displaced People ACSI - Amhara Credit and Saving Institute ADA - Amhara Development Association APDA - Afar Pastoral Development Association BoA - Bureau of Agriculture BoLSA - Bureau of Labour and Social Affairs DPPB - Disaster Prevention and Preparedness Bureau DPPC - Disaster Prevention and Preparedness Commission DSCP - Dessie Street Children Project EGS - Employment Generation Scheme EECMY Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus EMAO - Ethiopian Mine Action Organization EOC - Ethiopian Orthodox Church ERP - Emergency Recovery Program ERPMU- Emergency Rehabilitation Program Management Unit ESRDF - Ethiopian Social Rehabilitation and Development Fund FFW - Food for Work FGD - Focus Group Discussion FHI - Food for the Hungry International FSCE - forum for Street Children Ethiopia IDA - International Development Association IDPs - Internally Displaced People IGS - Income Generating Scheme GTZ - German Technical Assistance LSAD - Labour and Social Affairs Department Kg - kilogram Kms - Kilometers masl - Meter above ESAlevel MoFED - Ministry of Finance and Economic Development M & E - Monitoring and Evaluation MFI - Micro Finance Institute MOND- Ministry of National Defense NGO - Non-governmental Organizations ORDA - Organization for Rehabilitation and Development of Amhara RADO - Rehabilitation and Development Organization REST - Relief Society of Tigray RTF - Rehabilitation Task Force ESA - Environmental and Social Assessment SIDA - Swedish International Development Agency UNICEF United Nations Children's Fund TLU - Tropical Livestock Unit ORDA - Organization for Rehabilitation and Development of Amhara PMU - Project Management Unit UNDP- United Nations development Program USAID- United States Aid for International Development UXOs - Unexploded Ordinance WFP - World Food Program
v PREFACE
This report was prepared by Mohammed Mussa (ESA Team Leader) with Ato Retta Assegid, Kelkilachew Ali, Ato Worku Gebeyehu, Ms Etalem Mengistu, Ato Mesfin Admassu, Ato Aragey Demeke and Frederic Giovannetti (ESA advisor). Many people in various capacities have provided information and assistance towards the efforts of the Study Teams in Tigray, Afar and Amhara Regional states. These include senior staff of the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development (MoFED), the World Bank; staff of the EPMRU in Amhara and Tigray Regions, DPPC, ESRDF-Afar Office, government sector offices at and regional, zonal and woreda levels; members of zonal and woreda councils; and community members in all project woredas
We are also thankful to NGOs and bi-lateral and multi-lateral organizations who provided useful information for the study. These include WFP, UNICEF, USAID, UNDP and others.
Our special thanks go to Ato Wondwowssen Feleke, head of the EPMRU, Ato Gemeda Aleme, Ato Demillie Asmamaw, Ato Demirew Getachew and Ato Hailiye Makonnen of MoFED; Mr. Robert Roche, Mr. Gaiv Tata and Ato Abebaw Alemayehu of the World Bank for their technical inputs and encouragement provided during the undertaking of the study. We also thank the various community members and beneficiaries of the project for their patience and time which made our assignment interesting and professionally rewarding.
vi EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The Ethio-Eritrean conflict has resulted in displacement of the population of Tigray and Afar bordering Eritrea. The conflict has also resulted in the deportation of Ethiopians from Eritrea. The IDPs and deportees have lost their means of livelihood. Furthermore, many households in the country including in Tigray, Amhara and Afar Regional states have lost their breadwinners following the border conflict.
With the recent Comprehensive Peace Initiative between Ethiopia and Eritrea, an Emergency Recovery Program (ERP) has been initiated which is aimed at rehabilitating the war affected population of the country. The Credit Agreement between the Ethiopian government and the IDA requires to undertake the Environmental and Social Assessment of the war-affected population in the three regions of Tigray, Afar and Amhara.
The rehabilitation program has identified rehabilitation packages for the war-affected population in the areas of agriculture, housing rehabilitation for IDPs, household utensils and income generating schemes (IGS). The items under these packages are considered as intended, while others outside these packages are considered as non-intended. To this effect, the Environmental and Social Assessment (ESA) study has been conducted to establish the benchmark information of the beneficiaries and identify the needs and priorities.
The ESA study has benefited from primary and secondary information. Primary information was collected at sample household level using structured questionnaire. In addition, participatory tools and techniques (focus group discussions and semi-structured interviews) were used to gather the perceptions of the various stakeholders. Sample households (IDPs, Deportees and families of deceased) were covered by the survey. The survey conducted on Tigray deportees by UNICEF is used in this report. The relevant documents including the technical annex of the Credit Agreement as well as other previous studies in the three regions were reviewed.
Findings The program of ERP is classified as environmental category B because no component is expected to have a significant environmental impact. An Environmental and Social Assessment (ESA) was undertaken in Tigray, Afar and Amhara Regions at the end of the first year of the project to (i) more carefully evaluate possible adverse social and environmental impacts associated with beneficiaries returning to their communities, reconstructing their homes, and restarting their farming and business activities, (ii) establish a socio-economic baseline, and (iii) evaluate the first release of household funds. The study confirmed that there are no appreciable negative environmental or social impacts. The main concerns identified at appraisal and tracked during implementation are as follows:
Restocking: Herd size and potential for overgrazing, plus the market price of livestock. Herd size and market prices were tracked.
Farming Inputs: The application of inorganic fertilizer. Pesticides are not financed under the project. Use of fertilizer was tracked.
Housing Reconstruction: The potential use of wooden beams to support traditional earth packed masonry houses was mitigated by use of corrugated iron sheet roofing. Acceptance of the new construction materials had to be confirmed, and price of roofing sheets tracked.
Resettlement: Since the IDPs are returning to their original homes issues related to involuntary resettlement have not been triggered. However, a demining component was added to ensure the safe return of civilians to their homes and farms by clearing areas affected by mines and unexploded ordnance.
vii Deportees: The integration and acceptance of deportees/returnees in the communities, and support to vulnerable old and young people.
Internally Displaced People (IDPs)
IDPs are found in Tigray and Afar Regions who have lost their properties due to the conflict. According to the survey, the total number of IDPs in Tigray is estimated at about 54,836 in 47 war-affected tabias of the region. With the effort of the Government and the Donor Community, some of the displaced have managed to return to their origins and lead normal lives, while some of them still need assistance.
In Tigray, the needs of the IDPs have been assessed in three phases and the first phase of the ERP assistance has already been disbursed to about 12,000 IDPs. In Afar, a rapid need assessment has already been conducted for urban IDPs but there benefit disbursement has not yet taken place.
About 83% of the respondents in Tigray declared that they have returned to their origins and most of them have already resumed their activities, though not at a full scale. For some of the IDPs, house damage and landmines are the major reasons for not returning to their origins. It was reported in Tigray that cultivation is limited due to fear of landmines.
The present survey results show that in Tigray, about 54% and 34% of the urban and rural IDP household members, respectively have primary education and above, while 21 and 51%, respectively are reported to be illiterate. The situation is different in Afar where most of the household members are illiterate and only 15% of them have primary education. This is mainly due to the fact that even before displacement, children in Afar are engaged in livestock herding and the current conventional education system is not relevant to the region unless mobile education system is put in place.
There is an argument that due to the production system in the Afar Region (mobility), it is difficult to distinguish displacement from normal movement of pastoralists with their animals. However, it was learnt during the survey period that pastoralists have been displaced from some kebeles bordering Eritrea and the movement of livestock for grazing and watering has been restricted by the fear of landmines. The survey indicates that the herd size per household has drastically reduced as compared to the pre-war holding.
Generally, the survey results do not raise concerns about potential adverse environmental impacts as a result of future restocking and housing reconstruction programs. The purpose of restocking is to replace the lost animals, and is not increasing the herd sizes against what they used to be before the conflict. Moreover, livestock has usually been purchased locally. Qualitative information collected from beneficiaries, officials and experts confirms this view. Furthermore, the strategy of reconstructing houses has shifted from the uses of beams to other materials which avoids the adverse environmental impact.
Regarding the priorities of the IDPs in the two regions, 70% of the IDPs in Afar reported that food shortage is the major problem, while in Tigray 40% of the respondents declared that housing is the problem. In Tigray, WFP has distributed food assistance to about 307,000 IDPs. About 98% of those who received the assistance reported that the duration of the assistance was six months and above. WFP claims that since most of the IDPs are expected to return to their origins and resume their activities, the food assistance for 2002 will be limited to some most vulnerable IDPs only. In Afar Region, 31% of the pastoral IDPs declared that they have received food assistance for 6 months and above, while the majority of them (mainly pastoral IDPs) reported that they have not received any food assistance at all.
Families of the Deceased
The families of the deceased are among the targets of the ERP. So far, 10,920 and 4,631 families of deceased households in Tigray and Amhara, respectively have received the benefit packages, while in Afar, the ERP benefit has not yet been disbursed due to the problems associated with logistics.
viii The survey results show that on average, about 50% of the deceased have only one single beneficiary household, and about 35% of the deceased have two beneficiary households (spouse and parent headed households). The remaining 15% of them have more than two household beneficiaries. The major beneficiaries of the deceased are spouses with children, if any, and parents. The extended family system in the country has been reflected in the survey results - in some cases, brothers and sisters are considered as beneficiaries which is mainly the case in Afar Region and the unmarried deceased.
The survey results further indicate that urban and rural families of deceased in the regions wish to involve in off-farm activities for diversifying their income and improving their food security situation. Among the off- farm activities, petty trading has become the most preferred area. For instance, in Tigray, 83% of the urban and 86% of the rural families of deceased expressed the opinions that they would like to engage in petty trading. The justification for the selection of this activity is that it does not require special skills and has been practiced by many people as a source of additional income. About 56% of the respondents believe that they can generate income from petty trading within 7-12 months and support themselves.
Deportees
One of the effects of the Ethio-Eritrean conflict is the deportation of about I 0,000 Ethiopians from Eritrea. Among these deportees, about 75,000 are in Tigray, 1,400 in Afar and 16,500 in Amhara. The ERP assistance has not yet reached the deportees. Recently, registration of the deportees has started at national level the purpose of starting the rehabilitation program. During the focus group discussions in the three regions, the deportees expressed that they feel neglected and abandoned. Some NGOs and WFP have provided food assistance to some of the deportees but mainly only for 3-6 months.
The finding of the survey suggests that getting job opportunities is a priority for all deportees. Most of them left Eritrea for economic reasons where, prior to the conflict, they were productive members of the society, able to support themselves. Most of the deportees are now in conditions of dependency. Women and young girls who are unable to find jobs and/or start productive economic activities, have been exposed to risky activity - commercial sex work, especially in the areas of high military presence, are exposed to sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV/AIDS.
The needs assessment studies in the three regions suggest that the deportees are more interested in IGS activities. Among the various IGS, petty trading has been considered as the major choice of the beneficiaries. Similar to the urban IDPs and families of deceased, the deportees also believe that petty trading does not require special skills and huge capital and that they can generate better income from this type of IGS.
Conclusions and Recommendations
The following conclusions are drawn from the findings of the ESA:
I . The socio-economic characteristics of the sample war-affected population shows that they need assistance to start productive activities. Although most IDPs in Tigray and Afar have returned to their origins, their productive activities are constrained by lack of resources and fear of landmine. Access to social services such as education and health are not encouraging particularly in the Afar Region. The school enrollment rate of children is low, particularly in Afar Region.
2. The ERP benefit packages have been disbursed to IDPs and families of deceased in Tigray and to families of deceased in Amhara. The disbursement was made based on the assessment and prioritization of needs of the beneficiaries. The local government offices and the beneficiaries themselves were involved in the process. It was also learnt that in most cases, the benefit packages have been used for the intended purposes.
ix 3. The registration of deportees has taken place at nationally level but the rehabilitation program has not yet started. It was observed that in some instances, the benefit package for the deportees is not commensurate with the actual needs. For instance, housing is an important component of the rehabilitation program which is not included in the package Family size was not also considered when the benefit package for deportees was set - some households with large family sizes may not be adequate.
4. In Afar, houses have been destroyed in towns like Bure, but were not considered in the package. Birr 500 was considered for the construction of a mobile IDP house which is not perceived sufficient.
5. Generally, the rehabilitation activities do not show adverse environmental and socioeconomic impacts. Restocking in both Tigray and Afar will be made through local purchases and the IDPs get replacement for what they have lost as a result of the conflict. Therefore, there are no additional stocks to the initial herds of the beneficiaries that will threaten the environment. Furthermore, the strategy of reconstructing of houses has shifted from the uses of beams to other materials which avoids the risk of adverse environmental impact. Furthermore, the rehabilitation interventions are not expected to cause any negative socio-economic impacts on the communities in terms of integration, natural habitat, involuntary resettlement etc.. They instead will contribute to the local economies and particularly to the actual beneficiaries.
6. The survey results show that the knowledge about HIV/AIDS is high among the sample beneficiaries in the three regions. However, HIV/AIDS remains a concern, especially for deportee/young girls in Tigray and Afar who have not been engaged in productive economic activities. Owing to the presence of military bases in the two regions, coupled with lack of employment opportunities, the number of young girls joining the commercial sex work has been increasing.
Recommendations
Based on the findings of the ESA baseline survey, practical recommendations are made on the benefit package, landmines, environmental and socio-economic impacts of interventions, rehabilitation of deportees and monitoring and evaluation of the rehabilitation interventions. The recommendations are presented as follows:
1. Restocking of animals in Afar should take place as soon as possible. The purchases of livestock can take place from woredas not affected by the border conflict. Price variations, especially for small ruminants, were raised in Tigray due to the demand created by the presence of the military. Therefore, the current livestock market price should be taken into account as to ensure that the benefit package is adequate . Price monitoring for other elements of the package should also be conducted.
2. The housing reconstruction component of the program for the Tigray IDPs seems to be slow and it is recommended to expedite this rehabilitation component. Furthermore, shelter has been identified as one of the priority areas for deportees. Therefore, in consultation with the community and local government, there will be a need to reconsider low cost housing construction for the deportees. There is also a need for flexibility in uses of the families of deceased package for construction and/or maintenance of houses, especially if the families of deceased are to use the houses as the means of income sources.
3. The housing benefit package for pastoral IDPs was not found to be sufficient and there is a need for reconsideration: Furthermore, the benefit package should include the housing reconstruction in Afar urban areas (Bure).
x 4. Since children of the deceased could be relatively disadvantaged, it is recommended to introduce into the package the possibility to cover educationai costs for the children, including vocational training for the young adults where relevant, up to a limit to be determined. This measure would be limited to female-headed households and needs further investigation. In some instances, brothers and sisters
5. Landmine is a concern in Tigray and Afar war-affected woredas .and cultivation and movement of humans and livestock have been restricted. In Tigray, the landmine issue is more critical in L/Adiabo, Berhele, Gulomekeda and Irob woredas In Afar, pastoralists were mainly displaced from Elidar, Berehale, Erepti and Dalul woredas and could not return to their original localities due to fear of landmines. This situation has constrained the economic activiti8es of the IDPs in both regions. Therefore, there is a need for expediting the de-mining process and also the awareness creation on landmines, giving priorities to most affected woredas, so that the IDPs could return and start their economic activities at full scales.
6. The rehabilitation of deportees is an immediate and critical issue. The potential rehabilitation interventions have been identified and the market was assessed. A market assessment was made for tailoring, metal work, tea/coffee shops, cart services and other petty trading which could be implemented in the towns of Mekele, Adigrat, Dessie, Asayita and Kombolcha. The indicative financial costs and benefits have also been estimated for these rehabilitation interventions. Therefore, the implementation should take place in these pilot towns and the experience could be replicated to other towns of the country depending on the concentration level of deportees. The rehabilitation of deportees should also include housing since most of them depend on relatives as indicated under benefit package of this recommendation. It is also worth noting that some NGOs are already operating the study areas. Such NGOs and financial institutions in the region includeAgency for Assistance of Refugees, Returnees and Displaced People (AARRDP), Amhara Credit and Saving Institute (ACSI) , Amhara Development Association (ADA) Relief Society of Tigray (REST), Tigray Development Association (TDA) and Afar Pastoral Development Association APDA). Therefore, it is recommended to coordinate the implementation of the rehabilitation interventions with these and other relevant NGOs.
7. In order to ensure the sustainability of the rehabilitation program, food assistance should be considered as an important element. Furthermore, the participation of the deportees (deportee committees) in the process of needs assessment and prioritization needs to be encouraged.
8. The rehabilitation interventions generally do not have adverse environmental impact. However, the concentration of livestock in relatively landmine free woredas and kebeles in Afar Region is a potential environmental concern. Therefore, the de-mining process should be expedited and the awareness raising on landmines should be continued for the return of the pastoral IDPs to their grazing and watering domains.
9. The uses of the benefit package for the intended goods should be monitored and reported accordingly. In addition, the impact of the benefit package on the beneficiaries (how livelihood is changing as a result of the benefit package) should be evaluated. It is recommended to conduct a quarterly monitoring, and a mid-term and an ex-post evaluation of the rehabilitation interventions.
xi INTRODUCTION
1. BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES
The conflict between Ethiopia and Eritrea has resulted in displacement and casualties in human and material resources. The people were either displaced, deported or have lost their breadwinners. The most war-affected regions are Tigray and Afar, while some deportees from Eritrea have also been residing in urban areas of Amhara. The rural farming Internally Displaced People (IDPs) have left their origins with limited personal belongings and have lost their agricultural inputs as well as other means of livelihood such housing, household items etc. The IDPs from the urban centers were either self-employed, private and/government employees. When they left the urban areas affected by the war, they lost their houses and other livelihood means. The IDPs are temporarily sheltering in areas which are food insecure and where they have been additional burdens to the host communities.
The Emergency Recovery Program is a comprehensive package designed to cope with the aftermath of the conflict. The Program includes two new credits, the Emergency Recovery Project (ERP) and the Emergency Demobilization and Reintegration Project (EDRP), plus contributions from three existing IDA-financed projects. The US$230 million ERP credit is financing household rehabilitation (for IDPs in Tigray, deportees/returnees, and families of deceased bread winners), de-mining, and road maintenance/rehabilitation. The US$170 million EDRP credit is financing reintegration of military personnel into civil society and assistance to disabled veterans. The existing Ethiopia Social Rehabilitation and Development Fund (ESRDF) is financing US$17.5 million for household rehabilitation for IDPs in Afar and community infrastructure, EMSAP is financing US$2.5 million for HIV/AIDs, and the Energy 11 Project is financing US$10 million for power supply rehabilitation.
The main areas of tension during the conflict on the Ethiopian side, along the 1000 kilometer boarder between the two countries were: i) Badme and Shiraro, in the western boarder area between the Tekeze and Mereb rivers (Western Zone of Tigray Region), ii) Tsarona, Zalambessa and Alitena in the central boarder section (Eastern Zone of Tigray Region) near the main road leading to the Eritrean capital of Asmara; and iii) Bure in the eastern boarder section (Zone I of the Afar region) on the main road to the Red Sea Port of Assab. However, disputed areas that led the two countries into war have been resolved through the Peace Agreement and the boarder decision. The rehabilitation of displaced people has helped normalize relations in the boarder area. Before the project was negotiated, the Governments of Ethiopia and Eritrea signed letters confirming the they would honor all debts to IDA regardless of the final disposition of land between the two countries and related assets that they may have financed.
These Program components are described below including how environmental and social issues are addressed in each component:
(a) Household Rehabilitation (ERP): The overall objective of the household rehabilitation component is to provide assistance to the war affected population in order to rebuild their lives and resume production economic activities and have access to basic services. The ESA is done for this component as per the requirement of ERP - DCA (CR#34380)
(b) Humanitarian de-mining (ERP): The objective of the de-mining component is to mitigate the threat of land mines and UXO and to create an environment conducive for the safe and sustainable return of civilians to their homes and livelihoods. This component is expected to have a significant positive environmental impact through its contribution to de-mining a significant area of land a large part of which is arable. In this ESA the impact of land mine on the return of IDPs in Tigray and Afar has been explored.
- 12 - (c) Rehabilitation/Maintenance of Road Infrastructure (ERP): The overall objectives of the road sub-component are to assist the Government of Ethiopia to: (i) rapidly rehabilitate and restore destroyed or damaged road infrastructure in the war affected areas, (ii) rehabilitate critical road sections and bridges that have suffered serious damage due to an increase in heavy unexpected traffic and/or the diversion of traffic from the original import export route to new routes, (iii) rehabilitate roads to ensure operational efficiency in the implementation of relief program activities and facilitate the flow of imported humanitarian cargo in selected chronically drought affected areas and (iv) carry out emergency heavy maintenance of priority roads whose improvement had been slowed down by the war leading to further deterioration of large sections. There are no major environmental issues anticipated under this component. All road reconstruction works are only rehabilitation/maintenance activities carried out on the existing roads with out changing their alignment or width. The potential impacts of all activities are well known and can be effectively addressed through design, standard mitigation measures and proper construction monitoring. The contracts include specific environmental provisions and contractors are briefed on these requirements during site visits. The Environmental Management Branch of ERA will monitor the environmental mitigation actions and intercede as necessary. The social issues related to this component are: (i) the potential for increased transmission of HIV/AIDS along the roads to be reconstructed and (ii) access to construction employment by local residents in the project area. The Environmental Management Branch of ERA has already developed HIV/AIDS prevention strategy that targets awareness creation for the overall roads sector development program. Access to unskilled jobs associated with improvement of the roads is being addressed through unemployment action plan for the main roads and labor based technology that's suitable for rural roads improvement.
(d) Community Infrastructure Rehabilitation (ESRDF): The major objective of this component is to rehabilitate, reconstruct, equip and furnish the damaged or destroyed social and economic infrastructure at the community level and restore the resumption of delivery of basic services. Finance for this activity, including the community infrastructure in Zalambessa is coming from the reallocated proceeds ($15.2 million) of the ESRDF credit (Cr. 2841 -ET). The ESRDF through its regional offices in Tigray and Afar Regions are responsible for the implementation of these activities. ESRDF has an operational manual that provides criteria for an environmental screening of each project during its appraisal, in order to identify potentially negative environmental and social impacts at early stage. As part of a request for a Supplemental Credit and in order to comply with current WB safeguard requirements, ESRDF has produced an Environmental and Social Management Plan (after completion of an Environmental and Social Assessment) and a Resettlement Policy Framework in June 2002. The first document sets out mitigation, monitoring, and institutional measures to be considered during project implementation to avoid or mitigate potential adverse environmental and social impacts. The Resettlement Policy Framework describes the principles and procedures for compensation for loss of property and livelihood.
(e) HIV/AIIDS prevention, care and support (EMSAP): The main objective of this component is to reduce HIV infection and spread by scaling up HIV/AIDs related interventions for the army, commercial sex workers in the army and displaced population as a result of the conflict This component is not expected to create any serious negative impact on the environment as the project is mainly dealing with awareness training and therefore would not need a medical waste plan. In addition, the activities of health institutions and service providers incorporate standard measures for the safe disposal of medical waste.
(f) Reconstruction/Rehabilitation of Power Supply Infrastructure (Energy II): The aim of this component is to rehabilitate and reconstruct damaged power supply facilities in the four towns of Zalambessa, Adigrta, Bure and Mekelle in the war affected areas. It involves the reconstruction and rehabilitation of 65Km of 15KV line, 27 km of 0.4 KV line, and 6 km of street lights along with the replacement provision of 29 pieces of 50 and 63 KVA transformers, 2 pieces of 450Kw diesel
- 13 - generators and, 550 single phase custonier connection in 'the above mentioned four towns. The power supply rehabilitation activities in the four towns, including Zalambessa will be financed from a reallocation from the on-going Energy II project (Cr. 3019-ET), and its implementation is being carried-out by the Ethiopian Electric Power Authority (EEPCo). The power rehabilitation work at Mekele, Adigrat and Bure have been completed. Power rehabilitation works will involve only the replacement of power poles and distribution lines along the existing transmission routes. EEPCo already has a unit that's responsible for coordination of project management activities for IDA financed projects. EEPCO has established guidelines for the construction of distribution lines which include normal environmental mitigation measures and safety procedures. EEPCO has also prepared a Resettlement Policy Framework for dams and transmission lines under Energy II Project, which sets out the principles and procedures for social impact mitigation, through compensation for loss of property and income, relocation or resettlement, monitoring and evaluation, and a grievance resolution mechanism. The Environment and social monitoring unit of EEPCO will monitor the environmental and social mitigation actions.
According to current implementation status of ERP, a shortfall of about US$36.0 million is expected in: (i) the household rehabilitation component (rehabilitation of 28,800deportees throughout the country and 1941 IDPs in Afar), (ii) rehabilitation of IDPs in Zalambessa through the reconstruction of damaged residential and commercial houses and (iii) settlement of the Mille-Assab Road Maintenance Contract claim. The additional money for the three activities is expected to come by restructuring the EDRP Credit.
The Credit Agreement between the Government of Ethiopia and the World Bank requires that after six months of project effectiveness, a Environmental and Social Assessment (ESA) be conducted. The ESA is to address the household rehabilitation component in the three regions of Tigray, Afar and Amhara..
Therefore, the objectives of this study are: * Establish baseline information for all categories of eligible beneficiaries in the three regions, * Prepare a draft rehabilitation strategy for deportees, urban IDPs and urban families of deceased based on baseline information collected by ESA team, PMUs and other institutions, * Establish a monitoring and evaluation system. * Assess the environmental impacts of the interventions * Assess food assistance requirement of beneficiaries.
2. STUDY METHODOLOGY AND LIMITATIONS
2.1 SOURCES OF INFORMATION AND SURVEY TECHNIQUES
Primary and secondary (qualitative and quantitative) information were collected for this study. Secondary information were collected from different relevant documents at federal and regional levels. The technical annex of the Credit Agreement, previous studies and government policies were reviewed and important information were generated. The primary information was collected through interviews with stakeholders - beneficiaries and non-beneficiaries. Two survey techniques were applied for the collection of the primary data - conventional and participatory. Structured questionnaire was designed and pre-tested for the collection of data at household level, while checklists were framed based on the structured questionnaire for focus group discussions and for semi-structured interviews - the questionnaire and checklists are provided in the annex volume of the Environmental and Social Assessment study.
The structured questionnaires were translated to Tigrigna (for Tigray Region) and Amharic for Amhara and Afar Regions. Enumerators were recruited and trained on the administration of the questionnaires during which pre-testing was carried out in sample areas of the three regions.
- 14 - 2.2 SAMPLING PROCEDURE
The team had made reconnaissance visits to the regions prior to the design of the study methodology. During the reconnaissance visits, some secondary information were collected from the respective regions, discussions were held with the ERPMU branch offices as well as with some community members. The information was used as the basis for the determination of the sample woredas and sample household size from each category of beneficiaries - families of deceased, Deportees and IDPs. Following the technical annex of the Credit Agreement and the situation on the ground, 2% of the IDPs and families of deceased who already received the first disbursement were covered by the sample. The survey also covered IDPs, families of deceased and Deportees who were not yet paid. The sample includes the rural/urban as well as male/female beneficiary households.
In Tigray, the total number of IDP households already paid was 1 1,923 in six woredas. Thus, 2% of the total IDPs paid was drawn proporational to the number of IDPs by woreda and tabia ('). In the same region, the total number of families of deceased households paid was 10,920 and 2% of the figure is considered proportional to the population of each woreda. Similarly, sample families of deceased households were considered for the survey in the Amhara Region. The total number of families of deceased households paid was 4,631 and 2% of the total number was the sample size drawn from 12 sample tabias. The summary of the sample sizes by category and region are provided below, while the details of the sample distributions are provided in the annex volume of this report.
Sample Sizes by Region and Category of Beneficiaries
Category of Tigray Amhara Afar Total Beneficiaries IDPs 331 _ _84 415 Families of Deceased 247 200 50 397 Deportees UNICEF 126 95 221 Survey I I__ _ Totals 578 326 229 1033
2.3. LIMITATIONS OF THE SURVEY
1. In Afar Region, a sample size of 50-75 families of deceased households was initially planned. However, due to the mobility of the respondents, the actual sample size was lower than the plan.
2. In all categories of beneficiaries, there were some missing values since the respondents did not respond to all questions in the questionnaire. It should be noted that the difference between the actual number of respondents and the sample six is the number of households who did not respond to that specific question. 3. Like any survey of this kind, there could be some biases in the responses - over and under reporting is possible. To this effect, problems such as access to social services, assistance, house damage etc. could be over emphasized, while income level could be under reported.
2.4. ORGANIZATION OF THE REPORT
Tabia is the wordfor "Kebelle" in Tigrigna language.
- 15 - The results of the baseline survey are presented in three chapters for the three regions. The different categories of beneficiaries have been addressed for each region. The details of the survey results are presented in separate annex volume of this report.
- 16 - CHAPTER ONE: TIGRAY REGION
REGIONAL PROFILE
The Tigray Regional State situated in the northeastern highlands of Ethiopia covers an area of approximately 80,000 sq. kms. It has a population of 3.3 million people of which 85% live in the rural areas and the remaining 15% live in urban and semi-urban areas. The regional economy is based on agriculture on which 83% of the population depend for their livelih6od. Agriculture is primarily rain fed type and subsistence- oriented in nature. Crops such as sorghum, teff, barely and millet mainly, and some maize and pulses grow in the region. The main livestock raised in the area include cattle, goats, sheep, horses, donkeys, mules and poultry. In Tigray, the average size of land available to four-person households is 0.5 hectare, too small to support the family on agricultural production alone. The average production of cereals, the major agricultural output is 4-7 quintals per household in the drought prone areas and this level of staples cereal production can only feed a family for 5-8 months a year at best. In support, non-farm activities provide supplementary incomes for many. However, food insecurity still remains at significant level.
As a result of the Ethio-Eritrean conflict, about 10 percent of the total population of Tigray was displaced and lost the agricultural production, livestock, sources of livelihood, homes and belongings. The deportation of Ethiopians has also increased the burden of the region. Moreover, as a result of the war, many households lost their breadwinners. With the recent Comprehensive Peace Initiative between Ethiopia and Eritrea, the war affected areas in Tigray must deal with the challenges of post war recovery at the household and community level to enable an effective return to productive and secure lives. This part of the report includes information on IDPs, families of deceased and Deportees in Tigray Region. ERPMU has been established in Tigray which deals with rehabilitation of the war-affected population in the region.
1. INTERNALLY DISPLACED PEOPLE (IDPS)
1.1. BACKGROUND
In Tigray, the initial number of the internally displaced people in Tigray was about 315,936 of which 116,416 were from the western zone, 88,978 in the central zone and 110,542 people from the eastern zone. The distribution of displaced households is given in table 1 below.
Table 1.Distribution of Internally Displaced Households
No Woreda Benejficiaries/HH Heads 1 Tahitay Adiabo 9,417 2 Lailay Adiabo 4,494 3 Kafta Humera 12,113 4 Aheferom 8,137 5 Merbleke 8,490 6 Irob 4,017 7 Gulomekeda 8,108 8 Gantafeshum 60 Total 54,836 Source: ERP Office, Tigray
- 17- 1.2. DISPLACEMIENT SITUATION
The first people believed to be displaced were those who left their place in May 1998. This is also evident from table 2 that the majority of the people were displaced in 199898 and diminished gradually in both rural and urban areas.
Table 2: Distribution of Respondents by Year of Displacement
Year of Displacement Number of Responde nts Rural (n=315) % Urban (n=33) % 1998 238 75.6 13 1999 71 22.5 18 2000 1 0.3 _ 2001 3 1.0 2002 2 0.6 2 Total 315 100.00 33 100.00
In the process of rehabilitation, priority was given to reintegrating of the displaced with the community. The success towards this end is believed to be a pillar for the whole process. It was learnt that many displaced people both from rural and urban areas have already returned to their original place. The time of return for most of them was year 1992 (1999/2000) and 1993 E.C (2000/2001).
Table 3. Distribution of Respondents By Current Place of Residence
Living at original Place of Number of Respondents Residence Rural (n=313) Urban (n=33 % Yes 259 82.7 33 100 No 54 17.3 - Total 313 100.00 33 100.00
Table 4. Distribution of Respondents By Year of Return to their Original Place
Time of Return (EC) Number of Respondents Rural (n=246) Urban (n=31) % 1990 6 2.4 2 6.45 1991 49 19.9 - - 1992 110 44.7 - - 1993 79 32.1 25 80.64 1994 2 0.8 4 12.90 Total 246 100.00 31 100.00
For most of the rural IDPs, farming was the primary occupation. It was learnt from the survey that most of the rural IDPs (83.5% of those reported) and almost all urban IDPs have resumed their previous activities. The focus group discussions-with the beneficiaries revealed that the fear of landmines prevented them from cultivation at a full scale. It was also observed that most of the displaced people in the sample area (Rama Town) for urban IDPs have started petty trading activities.
A significant number of displaced people from rural areas covered by the survey (17.3%) have still not returned to their original places. Attempt was made to investigate why they did not return. The result is summarized and presented in Table 5 below.
- 18- Table 5. Respondents (Rural IDPs) By Reasons for Not Returnin to their Place N=266 Reasons Number of Respondent ( Fear of Landmines 52 52.5 House Damaged and not habitable 35 35.35 Already Settled 2 2.02 Other reasons 10 10.10 Total 266 100.00
Fear of landmines was the major constraint preventing the rural people to return to their place. The displaced people consulted were eager to return back to their original place and those already returned considered it a privilege to come back. The need to return back is strongly manifested by the fact that only few of the respondents from rural areas (2.02%) included in the survey have decided to settle where they were during the survey.
1.3. SOCIO-ECONOMIC CHARACTERISTICS
The sample survey result indicated that the sex ratio of the displaced and eligible beneficiaries for support was almost equal in rural areas. The variation was also minimum in urban areas. The distribution of the beneficiaries is summarized and presented in the following charts and in the annex volume of this report.
Sex Distribution of Beneficiaries- Sex Distribution of Beneficiaries- Rural IDP Urban IDP
Female Mate eMaleg1) 44% 50% 50% FemaleW6 44%
The level of education of the beneficiaries was also assessed. This is due to the fact that in the process of aspiring for long-term impact, the need for availing education facilities for the people particularly the children is fundamental. It was, however, found that more than 50% of the sampled beneficiaries from rural and a significant proportion from urban areas were illiterate. The number of beneficiaries with primary level education was, however, significant in both cases and this is believed to imply children who were attending school during and after the conflict.
Level of Education-Urban IDP Level of Education-Rural IDP 9% MIlliterate 0% El Illiterate 1 Read and Write 0%o% * Read and Write
0 Primary Level 34% Pnmaryeo Level 9% O0Secondary Level 52% 0 Secondary Level
54% N Higher Education 9% UHigher Education E1Not Ready for School O Not Ready for School
2 As indicated in Table 3, 54 respondents reported that they did not return to their villages. In this table however, the number of respondents seems higher which is caused by multiple responses.
- 19 - In the process of rehabilitation, focus should not only be given to restoring and/or supporting routine activities, but also upgrade and encourage people to apply some special skills they have (if any). Thus, the study attempted to identify what special skills do the beneficiaries have. It was found out that the majority of the beneficiaries in both rural and urban areas do not have any special skill. Few people had skills in masonry/carpentry and metal work, but the food processing skill indicated by few people in rural areas may not be a promising venture as the areas are mostly rural and the food processing service may not required much. A good proportion of the beneficiaries were also students who may need to get exposed to some vocational training programs. The details are given in the annex volume of this report in the chapter of rural IDPs.
Before displacement, farming was the major occupation of the beneficiaries from rural areas. Areas that generate employment opportunities like a simple daily work seems to be insignificant (rural areas) as people who had this opportunity (before displacement) were only 1% of the sampled beneficiaries. Table 6 presents the result.
Table 6. Occupation of Beneficiaries Before Displacement
Occupation Before Number of Beneficiaries Displacement Rural (n=1735) % Urban (n=159J % None - 27 15.72 Farming 517 29.8 - Daily Laborer 18 1.0 5 3.14 Petty Trade 21 1.2 37 23.27 Artisan 4 0.2 2 1.25 Housewife 140 8.1 8 5.03 Maid 51 2.9 48 30.18 Employee - 27 1.98 Student 829 47.8 - Young for school 102 5.9 - Other __ - 5 3.14 Total 1735 100.00 159 100.00
Assessment was made to estimate the current annual income of the respondents (who were mainly the heads of the households). The majority of the respondents from rural areas (5 1%) reported that they were earning less than 100 Birr per annum. This is suspected to be the cash income generated only. Respondents earned above Birr 2000 per annum were only 4% of the sample.
The average monthly income generated by respondents from urban areas ranged from less than 500 birr to above 2000 birr. It was observed that significant variation existed between the income of beneficiaries from rural and urban areas.
Estimated Annual Income-Rural IDP Estimated Monthly Income-Urban IDP Above Above 1000- 2000 birr 500-2000 2000 Birr 2000 birr 2% 500-2000 40/% Less than 18% Birr ~~~~~~~100Birr 15% 51% 500-1000a1 birr Less than 100-500 100/ 500 birr Birr 0 70% 30%
-20 - Most of the displaced people surveyed were living on hand outs given by agencies like The World Food Program (WFP). However, the support may not be extended for a longer period of time and as WFP indicated during the discussions, the support will be terminated at the end of year 2001 or the first months of year 2002.
Considering this background, assessment is made as to how the beneficiaries will support themselves and their family in case they do not have any source of income/job. More than three quarters of the respondents from rural areas replied that they were relying on government and other non-governmental organizations' handouts. It was also alarming that none of the respondents had any kind of saving to fall back on. The support from relatives is naturally not expected much as most of them were facing the same fate during the conflict. Respondents from urban areas were entirely expecting government support. The finding is summarized and presented in Table 7 below.
Table 7. Respondents By Source of Income to Support their Family
Source of Income Number of Respond nts Rural (n=213) % Urban (n=8) % Dependent on relatives 1 0.47 - Government assistance 175 82.15 8 100 NGOs assistance 23 10.79 - External Remittance 1 0.47 Petty Trade 4 1.87 Earlier Saving -
Other Sources 9 4.22 - Total 213 100.00 8 100.00
1.4. COMMUNITY INFRASTRUCTURE
Areas occupied during the conflict have lost most of the basic social infrastructure (water supply, education, health facilities). Therefore, restoring these services is a challenge in the process of rehabilitating the displaced people.
It is important to note that the damage assessment and cost estimations of the community infrastructure could not be presented by damaged levels (minor, major, & sever) due to the following reasons:
* The infrastructure were designed and constructed not in a standard manner. For instance, even primary schools are not constructed in similar standards in different locations. * As per our assessment, some of the social infrastructure were already renovated and some others are under construction. Restoration of basic community infrastructure facilities such as health, education, and water supply are underway in Tigray Region * In addition, the survey covered some sample woredas and it is difficult to draw conclusions on the number and types of community infrastructure damaged by level of damage.
Despite the attempts made to restore the supply of potable water services in most of the rural areas, water supply was found to be a major problem in areas like Bademe. A strong request was forwarded by all people consulted (the displaced people, the RTF and woreda officials) to give priority to restoring this service.
It was learnt during the survey that most residents get water from nearby rivers, unprotected wells and public outdoor sources (common distribution water points in towns). Only few people had safe water supply. The few water sources made available before the conflict were found to be destroyed during the occupation.
- 21 - Table 8. Respondents By Source of Potable Water
Source of Potable Water Number of Respondents Rural (n=54)- % Urban (n=33) % Pipe 13 4.1 7 21.21 Public Outdoor 112 35.1 24 72.72 Protected Well 54 16.9 Unprotected Well 113 35.4 Others/River 27 8.5 2 6.06 Total 319 100.00 33 100.00
It was observed during the survey period that quite a large number of children attend schools. However, the facilities available in some of the schools were below standard. The children are required to carry their own chairs to and from schools and forced to learn in window and door less rooms. This was particularly observed in schools visited in Badme. The situation of the health facilities was no exception.
Access of Children to School- Access of Children to School- Rural IDP Urban IDP
No No 21% 3%
Yes Yes 79% 97%
Investigation was made why some families do not send their children to school. Most of the children, according to the respondents, were young for school but a significant number of the respondents in rural areas (24.19%) indicated that they were not able to support their children go to school.
The absence of health facilities was highly pronounced as 78% of the respondents in rural areas indicated that the health institutions are very far from where they are living. The urban areas seems to be in a better position with regard to having access to health facilities.
1.5. HOUSING RECONSTRUCTION
Most of the internally displaced people particularly those from rural areas lost their houses, animals, and household materials during the conflict. The level of damage varied from complete to partial destruction.
The problem of housing was significant in areas like Bademe and Irob woredas. Some other areas were also under direct artillery attack. For instance, houses in four kebeles around Gerhu-semay were totally destroyed. In some cases the internally displaced people were forced to stay in plastic sheets covered roofs and this had became a cause for fire hazard. The plastic sheets used for roofing in Woretle kebele of Irob woreda were found to be old and request was forwarded to seek solution before the arrival of the rainy season. No housing
- 22 - package was fully in place for all the affected groups and areas. Only a pilot project was underway in Marta Kebele of Gulomekeda wereda.
Most of the displaced people from rural areas (85.8%) did have their own houses before displacement. The houses were constructed traditionally (Edimo) and only few of them did have roofs of corrugated iron sheets. The findings of the survey indicated the types of roofing materials, damages made to the houses, and types of items required for reconstruction and their possible sources are summarized and presented in the annex section.
The number of houses and the extent of damage by woreda are indicated in table 9 below. The damage level is provide as minor, major and severe
Table 9: Number of Houses Damaged by Woreda
Woreda Number of Houses and Extent of Damage Minor Major Severe Erob 882 1618 467 Gulomekeda 597 2091 2413 Gantaafeshum 5 16 Ahferom 782 1395 769 Mereblehe 544 741 159 T/Adiabo 644 684 1639 L/Adiabo 350 513 544 Kaffa Humera 175 273 472 Humera town 173 268 280 Totals 4152 3874 6759
Source: Tigray EPRMU, 2001
The estimated quantities of Reconstruction Materials are shown in Table 10 hereunder.
Table 10: Total required housing reconstruction materials in Tigray Region
No. Type of Construction material Unit Total Quantity I . Corrugated Iron Sheet Pcs 511,895 2. Cement Quntal 51,412 3. Nails Kg 231,645 4. Metal doors Pcs 19,247 5. Metal windows Pcs 19,247 6. Wooden poles Pcs 386,075
It was learnt during the focus group discussions that wooden poles are transported from adjacent regions, Gonder and Wollo. Stone is readily available in most places other construction materials are industrial products which can be found from national central market such as Addis Ababa and Mekele. Therefore, the above construction materials are readily available and can be supplied.
- 23 - The comparisons of cost estimates for reconstructing houses are provided in Table 11 below. The table shows that the survey estimates are lower than the ERP estimates. However, the survey estimates do not include contingencies and other costs. Thus, it could be concluded that the ERP estimates are generally adequate for housing reconstruction.
Table 11: Estimates of Housing Reconstruction (Birr)
Level of Number of Houses Unit Cost Total Cost Damage ERP Survey ERP Survey Estimate Estimate Estimate Estimate Minor 4,152 3,000 2,310 12,456,000 9,591,120 Maior 7,583 7,000 4,541 53,081,000 34,434,403 Severe 6,759 15,000 11,385 101,385,000 76,951,215 Totals 18,494 166,922,000 120,976,738
Generally, there is a shift from the traditional beam and earth packed roofing to a new type which is replaced by corrugated iron sheet roof covering. Traditional door and window openings were wooden beams and plinks and this also were replaced by sheet metal. The major reasons for this shift is the constraint in getting the wooden beams that are used for roofing and door and window openings. The big trees from which these beams made from are not available in the region. However, the communities were given the option of using their preference in material selection. This shift in using construction materials reduces the concern of adverse environmental impact.
According to the result of the focus group discussions in different woredas of Tigray, the shift from traditional housing construction to modem method is acceptable and does not have any negative social impacts. Most respondents expressed their need to reconstruct their houses in relatively modem way by using corrugated iron sheets and timber - this has also been encouraged by the region. Most respondents were suggesting to get the timber within the region and also from near by Amhara Region. Its implications on the environment and forest resources in the neighboring regions should, however, be investigated.
1.6. LIVESTOCK HOLDING
The effect of the war on the environment was significant especially in areas occupied during the conflict. Trees were cut and forests destroyed to build trenches and also to construct houses after the occupation. The effect was particularly significant in areas like Bademe and Irob weredas. As a result of the destruction of forests, wild animals were believed to be affected. But soil degradation is said to be not serious in T/Adiabo in general. It was stated that in some areas the grazing lands have not been used during the occupation and now not fully utilized for fear of landmines as a result of which their forage content is substantially improved. The woreda RTF in T/Adiabo indicated that some environmental protection activities were going on. The community is also contributing to the protection of the existing forests.
Only few people had livestock during the survey and this has little impact on the grazing lands. Of all the sampled beneficiaries, only 71 respondents reported to the questions and indicated their livestock number. This highlights only few people owned livestock-the source of which is expected to be new purchases made by the support from the program. The results are presented in the following chart.
- 24 - Ownership of Private Grazing Land- Rural IDP
Yes 22%
No 78%
Table 12: Size of Livestock Herd Before and After the Conflict
Oxen Cows Sheep and Goats Before displacement 262 252 418 Purchased with the 126 64 33 Project benefit 126 64 33 Currently owned 235 213 293
* The oxen purchased following the payment of the benefits account for about 53% of the present number and the cows for 30%. The Project benefits prove to contribute very significantly to the efforts by the displaced households to restore their incomes. * As all numbers still remain less than they were initially, no immediate adverse environmental impact can be expected so far as the result of the benefits.
Owning a private grazing land is not common in most parts of the country and the study area is not exceptional. However, it was found out that about 22.5% of the respondents in rural areas did have a private grazing land. But this result should be taken with caution as the level and standard of the grazing land is not set and known and the possibility of having that kind of property in parts of the country (the northern part) where land is a precious asset and scarce is questionable. The carrying capacity of the grazing land was also investigated. The majority of the respondents indicated that the land they own could support more than 10 animals.
Table 13. Respondents (Rural IDPs) By the Carrying Capacity of The Grazing land Owned (n=66)
Carrying Capacity Number of Beneficiaries % 1-2 animals 14 21.21 2-5 animals 18 27.27 5-10 animals 12 18.18 More than 10 animals 22 33.33 Total 66 100.00
- 25 - 1.7. LANDMINE EFFECTS
Effective resettlement and return to productive lives by IDPs in Tigray and Afar has been hindered by the presence of landmines and unexploded ordinance (UXOs) affecting the health and safety of human and livestock. Although some IDPs have returned to their origins, they could not start their usual productive activities due to landmines and the landmines has reduced the land for cultivation and grazing. This has also extended the dependency period of IDPs on other communities and outside support. The movement of women for safe water has been restricted. The landmine also has negative environmental impacts - removal and disturbance of the fertile tip soil, and increased soil erosion due to the explosion of landmines. The de- mining effort is not expected to cause any negative environmental impacts. The understanding is that the de- mining will be conducted manually and any sophisticated machines will not be employed that will affect the environment.
The landmine concerns of the community have been presented by woreda in table 14 below. The fear of landmines is high in the woredas, especially in Mereblehe, L/Adiabo and Gulomekeda. In Gulomekeda woreda, landmine concern is very particularly in Gerhu-sernay, Marta, Weratle and Bademe tabias. Cultivation has been restricted by landmine fears and this has been declared by all respondents in Merblehe and 93% of the respondents in L/Adiabo. All parties consulted during the survey indicated that vast areas are landmine infested and unable to be put under cultivation affecting the return of the IDPs and their economic activities. According to the information obtained in these areas, no full-scale de-mining activities have yet started except those done by the army to free major highways and some farmlands and grazing areas. People have not yet returned to areas like Selamo in T/Adiabo woreda. A study demarking areas infested with landmines along with their priority was conducted by the woreda officials and sent to the concerned authorities. It is, however, a concern by all parties consulted that there could be areas that are not yet identified.
Table 14: Land-mine Concerns By Woreda (Respondents in %)
Parameters T/Adiabo L/Adiabo Mereblehe Gulomekeda Irob Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes No Tabia occupied by Eritrean 51 49 100 0 50 50 69 31 100 0 Troops___ Landmine 82 18 76 24 100 0 67 33 62 38 Attended Landmine 59 41 79 21 33 67 88 12 92 8 awareness sessions _ Landmine is hidden in your 59 41 90 10 100 0 92 8 94 6 tabia Cultivation prevented by 39 61 93 7 100 0 83 17 71 29 landmines
Many areas were under occupation. About 75% of the respondents from rural areas indicated that their village was under occupation. The people consulted in the occupied areas feel the presence of landmines and the majority of them reached by the questionnaire indicated that there were incidents of landmines. More than 90% of the people interviewed also replied that they know people either killed and/or injured by landmines.
Recognizing this effect, the ERP has established the Ethiopian Mine Action Organization (EMAO) and some land miners have already been trained. In addition, Rehabilitation and Development Organization (RADO) is working to create awareness about landmines and provide counseling services to landmine victims in the affected woredas of the region. The survey result as indicated in the above table suggess that the majority of
- 26 - the respondents have attended the awareness raising sessions. For instance, 88% and 92% of the respondents in Gulomekda and Irob woredas, respectively reported that they have attended the awareness raising sessions conducted by RDO and other governmental organizations. RADO is conducting landmine awareness creation programs in schools, and also by organizing a listening groups in kebeles (15 groups/kebele). It has organized task forces at kebele levels to identify needs and assist in mapping the areas suspected of having landmines. The organization also provides vaccine services for livestock by its agents and supplies other agencies with information about landmines. The results of the survey with regard to landmines is summarized and presented in Annexes section.
The result of the survey showed that about 81% of the respondents in rural areas had attended landmines awareness creation sessions. The majority of the training programs were conducted by RADO.
Atttended Landmines 0 rg a n iza tio n p ro % Awareness Creation Sessions- Landm inet Rural IDP
No 19%
Yes 81%
The effect of fear of landmines was vivid as three quarters of the people contacted from rural areas indicated that they had farmlands not cultivated as a result. This has a negative contribution to the efforts made to rehabilitate these people at least in the short run. People who did not return to their place have also put fear of landmines as one of the primary problems for not returning.
1.8. FOOD ASSISTANCE ASSESSMENT
The World Food Program indicated that the support package (as of November 2001 the number of people supported was 307,000) follows WFP standard of 2100 calories/person/day that amounts to 15 KG of cereal (wheat/sorghum), and 4.5 KG of oil per month. Households with children aged below five years were getting additional support of Famix.
According to WFP, the support is mainly in kind (food items). WFP was also assuming that in the year 2002 most of the beneficiaries will not continue at a status of displaced people, would return back to their place and resume farming and support themselves. The organization also expects that the number of people who would not return back to their place for fear of landmines will be small. But the regional DPPB believes that the IDPs that would not return to their village as a result of landmines could be significant and these people need assistance in the year 2002. According to the bureau, the number of people needing support can be as high as 134,000. The office of the region's Emergency Rehabilitation Program estimates the number of the internally displaced households at 54,836.
Almost all the displaced people consulted during the survey were getting food assistance during the survey and this has been going on for more than 6 months. Detailed result of the survey is summarized and presented in the annex section. According to the majority of the respondents, equal amount of support is provided to all households.
-27- Access to Food (Current)-Rural IDP Access to Food Assistance-Urban
No IDPs 3% 0%
Yes 100% 97% |E3YeS No
Table 15. Duration of the Food Assistance
Duration Number of Respondents Rural (n=309) _ _ Urban (n=33) % 1-3 months 2 0.6 4-6 months 2 0.6 - More than 6 months 305 98.7 33 100 Total 309 100.00 1 33 100.00
A significant number of people from both rural and urban areas have been receiving food assistance before the start of the conflict. Of the total people consulted from rural areas, about 43.2% of them had access to food support before the conflict. There was a mixed response obtained from respondents regarding the size and frequency of the current food assistance in comparison with the support made before. The result of the survey is summarized and presented in the annex section.
1.9. ESTIMATES OF FOOD ASSISTANCE
The major organization that has been supporting the displaced people in the region was The World Food Program. The organization follows support in kind strategy that generates 2100 calories per person per day.
As indicated above, about 99% of the IDPs reported that they need food assistance for more than 6 months. The regional DPPB also claims that food assistance will be required for most of the IDPs for at least one year. The argument is that even though some IDPs have returned to their origins, they have not yet started their productive activities due to landmines and other factors. Therefore, the food assistance requirement is estimated for 134,000 IDPs.
Table 16: Food Assistance Requirement for IDPs
Food Item Quantity per Duration No. of Total Food month (kg) (months) Beneficiaries requirement
______~~(Q uintals) Wheat/Sorghum 15 12 134,000 241,200 Oil 0.75 12 134,000 12,060 1 FAMIX 2 12 33,500 8,040
Assumptions: * Food assistance is required for 134,000 IDPs for one year. * 25% of the deportees are children under five years old and pregnant and/or lactating mothers (33,500) that need supplementary food
- 28 - 1.10. NEEDS AND PRIORITIES
To make the intervention successful and achieve the objectives set for it, the felt need of the people should be investigated and interventions should be designed accordingly. The beneficiaries stressed that it is only need-based intervention that brings about a change in their living situation. Beneficiaries were asked what they want most in the near future. The result of the survey is summarized and presented in the annex section Table 17.
Table 17. Distribution of Respondents By First Priority
First Priority Number of Respon dents l Rural (n=322) % Urban (n=26) % Moving from where they are now 5 1.55 - Building House 127 39.44 4 15.38 Finding Job 15 4.65 7 26.92 Getting food 74 22.98 1 3.84 Start Farming 46 14.28 - Getting Land to Cultivate 31 9.62 l Buying Animals 24 7.45 - Starting a business - 14 53.84 Total 322 100.00 26 100.00
The need for housing was seriously raised time and again by most beneficiaries from rural areas during the discussion sessions. This was substantiated by the result of the survey that the majority of the respondents put building a house as their first priority. Only few people wanted to move from where they are and this also indicates that most of them have already returned to their original place. Starting a business activity was preferred by the majority of the people in urban areas.
Diversification of activities in the future also encourages and supports the beneficiaries to get involved in some off-farm activities strengthens their income base and make the intervention successful. This is determined by the potential of the area where these people are living. Most respondents expressed their interest to get involved in these activities. But in some areas like Woratle kebele of Irob woreda, people who chose to get involved in other innovative and off-farm activities were very few. This could be due to the fact that these people are mainly herders and give attention to rearing livestock.
Need for Non-farm Activities-Rural IDP
No 19%
Yes 81%
Petty trade was the activity chosen by most of the respondents in both rural and urban areas. These activities were chosen because most respondents indicated that they have already experience in the area. Petty trading is not requiring any specific training to initiate it and as long as one has little capital to start with, entrance into the venture is easier. The existence of market for the product also motivated them to make the choice.
People want to get settled in a relatively decent house before getting involved in any activity. When asked what support is required from the government to start the off-farm activities chosen, most beneficiaries from the rural areas still demanded support for housing. The response of most people from urban areas was not
- 29 - specified, but some demanded training apparently to start business activities. The findings of the survey are put in Table 18 and the annex section.
Table 18. Respondents By Support Needed to Start the Non-farm Activities
Support Required Number of Resp ondents Rural (n=271) % Urban (n=28) % Training 19 7.07 3 10.71 Tools/Equipment 15 5.53 1 3.57 Livestock 19 7.07 ___ Land for Farming 11 4.95 ___ Support for Housing 222 81.91 2 7.14 Other Supports 3 1.10 22 78.57 Total 271 100.00 28 100.00
The rehabilitation program has a limited life over which the beneficiaries are expected to become self- sufficient and need no external support. This being the major objective of the intervention, getting the view of the beneficiaries about the time required for self-sufficiency was vital for better judgment. Assessment was made with this regard and only 16% of the respondents from rural areas replied that they will become self- sufficient in about six months time. More than half of the people consulted indicated that at least one year is required for full rehabilitation and asked for the support to continue for the time indicated.
Time Required for Full Rehabilitation- Rural IDP Above 24 months Less than 6 months 13-24 16%
months - ;- 23%
7-12 months 60%
Respondents from urban areas were asked to identify the serious problem they have during the survey. Getting access to employment opportunity from the government and/or other agencies that generates income was the major problem identified.
Urban IDPs By Major Problem
Other Lack of proble food 27obienn~ /19% Lack of
No -- Shelter access 5% to publicj'\ services No job 3% Opportinty 46%
- 30 - 1.11. HIV/AIDS AWARENESS
The HIV/AIDS pandemic is one of the major problems in Ethiopia. Recognizing this fact, the Emergency Rehabilitation Program has identified this issue as one of the major components of the rehabilitation program.
A preliminary assessment was made to investigate if the beneficiaries did have some basic knowledge about the pandemic. Almost all people consulted indicated that they did have the information and accessed to some training and/or counseling services.
Most of them also know one or more methods that should be used to protect themselves from being infected. Most of the respondents were also using one of the major prevention mechanisms. The majority of them reported that that one-to-one was the method they were using. The source of information about the pandemic was mainly from meetings and this indicated that the kebele/Tabia officials were performing significant job with this regard. This was also confirmed during the group discussions. The role of media, particularly radio was also found to be significant in creating awareness about HIV/AIDS. The result of the survey is shown in Table 19 and annex volume of this report.
Table 19. Distribution of Respondents By Knowledge about HIV/AIDS
Know Number of Respondents Rural (=320) Urban fN=33) % Yes 319 99.7 33 100 No 1 0.3 Total 320 100.00 33 100.00
- 31 - 2. FAMILIES OF THE DECEASED
2.1 SOCIO-ECONOMIC CHARACTERISTICS
The socio-economic characteristics assessment addressed the age of the deceased, marital status, number of beneficiary households, sex composition of the beneficiaries, and their relationship to the deceased.
Beneficiaries By Sex-Urban Beneficiaries By Sex- Rural
_Male Female UJ% Mal 59% Female l430
According to the survey results, about 60% of the sampled beneficiaries from rural areas and 46% from urban areas were below the age of twenty that indicates the existence of higher dependency and burden on the heads of the households and the significance of the support. This finding could also warrant the size and time over which the support should be extended.
Beneficiaries By Age Category-Rural FDs Beneficiaries By Age Category- Urban FDS Less than Above 35 5 years Years 8 22% 8 Above 35 6-10 Years Years 32% 13%
% ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~11-20 1 0-20 21-35 Years Yeers Years 25% 28% 22%
Marital status of the deceased was also investigated. The survey result showed that more than 63% of the deceased from rural areas and 46% from urban areas were married. This also signifies that there are many dependants (a wife and children). Table I presents the summary of the finding.
Table 1. Distribution of The Deceased By Marital Status
Status Number of The Deceased Urban (n=84) Rural (n=166) % Married 39 46.40 106 63.85 Single 39 46.40 47 28.31 Divorced 5 6.00 12 7.22 Widowed I 1 .20 1 0.60 Total 84 100.00 166 100.00
- 32 - Some deceased have had more than one beneficiary household. This implies they were supporting in addition to their nuclear families, other family members like their fathers and mothers. The survey result showed that a significant number of the deceased in both urban and rural areas have more than one benefiting households. The details of the findings of the survey are presented in Table 2 and the annex section.
Table 2. Distribution of The Deceased By Beneficiary Households
Number of HHs Number of The Deceased Urban (n-83) _ _ _ Rural (n=168) % 1 48 58.5 87 51.78 2 26 31.7 61 36.30 More than 2 8 9.8 20 11.90 Total 82 100.00 168 100.00 1
The age distribution of the deceased in both rural and urban areas is summarized and shown in charts below.
The Deceased By Age Category- The Deceased By Age Category- Urban Rural Less than Less than 20 20 Years 7% 3% Above 30 20-30 Years ( &20-30 Above 20 Years 49 ,,fYears Years 41% 44% 56%
All beneficiaries were not getting equal amount of support. Regardless of the size of the support, however, all beneficiaries are given sufficient orientation about the utilization of the support extended. Assessment is made to evaluate the amount of benefit extended to the households already obtained benefit.
Benefit Extended in Birr-Urban Less than 5000 18% Above 10,000( 45000-
52% '- 10,000 30%
In both urban and rural areas, the majority of the beneficiaries obtained a significant amount of support that exceeded Birr 10,000. The joint involvement of the beneficiaries committee, the respective woreda officials and the community in general is in place in all areas in the verification of eligible beneficiaries. The process was found to be transparent. The involvement of women (particularly for the families of the deceased) was also observed to be significant as women were participating as committee members. In some places about 50% of the beneficiaries represented in the committee were said to be women.
-33 - Prior to need identification, sufficient orientation is given to the beneficiaries as to how the support should be utilized. The purpose of the support is clearly conveyed to the beneficiaries. As a result, diversion of the support in favor of activities not covered by the package seems to be insignificant and all RTF and ERP coordinators consulted indicated that there was no major problem with this regard.
All families of the deceased are eligible for support but prioritization is an important element. In some areas, setting priority followed the application of criteria that take in to account the physical capacity of the individual beneficiary, number of members in a household, and who is leading the household (elderly, women).
In principle, the level of education is expected to be relatively better in urban than rural areas. But a significant proportion of the beneficiaries in urban areas (47% of the sampled) were also found to be illiterate. The level of primary level education was almost similar in both cases. The number of beneficiaries with primary level education was relatively higher in both cases (believed to be implying children attending school during the survey). Table 3 presents the finding.
Table 3. Distribution of The Beneficiaries By Level of Education
Level of Education Number of Beneficiaries Urban (n-238) Rural (n=656) % Illiterate 111 46.60 427 65.1 Read & Write 25 10.50 26 4.0 Primary Level 80 33.60 186 28.4 Secondary Level 18 7.60 17 2.6 Higher Education 4 1.70 - Total 238 100.00 656 100.00
2.2. OCCUPATION OF THE HOUSEHOLD MEMBERS
Only few beneficiaries had special skills in both rural and urban areas. This significantly affects the income basket of these people, as they do not have diversified sources from other off-farm activities. Only 3.26% of the beneficiaries in rural areas and 5.3% in urban areas have skills in food processing. This, however, is believed to be not a promising venture even in the smaller towns in the area.
The absence of some special skills also calls for some training programs in the intervention package to bring about impact on the income and then life of these people in the long term. It is also believed that most of the beneficiaries were women (widows of the deceased) where some activities like metal work and masonry/carpentry is not practiced. The result of the survey is summarized and presented in Table 4.
Table 4. Distribution of Beneficiaries By Special Skill
Special Skill Number of Beneficiariesc Rural (n= 717) Urban (n=375) |_% None 624 87.00 296 78.90 Metal Work 1 0.1 __ _ Pottery 2 0.3 10 2.70 Masonry/Carpentry 10 1.4 4 1.10 Food Processing 26 3.26 20 5.30 Other 54 7.5 45 12.0 Total 717 100.00 375 100.00
- 34 - Beneficiaries were requested to estimate their annual income. It was found out that more than 90% of the respondents in rural areas and about 71% in urban areas were earning less than Birr 1000 per annum.
This finding implies that most of the people from rural areas and a significant proportion from urban areas were living at subsistence level. Only few people were getting an annual income exceeding 1000 birr. The following chart presents the findings of the survey.
Estimated Annual Income-Urban Estimated Current Annual Income- Above AbovJeural 3000 Birr 3000 Birr 10% 3% 1000- 10003000 3000 Birr\= , Birr 19% 5% Less than 1000 Birr Less than 71% 1000 Birr 92%
Most of the respondents were women who lost their husbands. Some of them were observed attempting to run some farming activities and support their family. Assessment was made as to how these people (the heads of the family) were supporting their family.
The majority of those who replied from rural areas (82%) stated that government assistance is the major source of support. This was also true for urban dwellers. Some support was also obtained from relatives. But this does not seem a reliable source as most households may not raise enough income to give out to others. Table 5 presents the finding of the survey.
Table 5. Distribution of HH Heads By Source of Income to Support The Family
Source of Income Number of Respondents Rural (n=91) % Urban (n=80) % Dependant on Relatives 4 4.39 2 2.50 Government Assistance 75 82.48 26 32.50 NGO Assistance 1 1.09 3 3.75 Earlier Saving I 1.09 - Other Sources 10 10.98 18 22.50 Total 91 100.00 80 100.00
2.3. ASSET HOLDINGS
Land is the major means of production and valuable asset in rural areas. Recognizing this fact, assessment was made if the targets of the survey did have some private grazing land. Despite the gap in assessing the type, and the standard of the grazing land, about 22.5% of the respondents replied that they own some. Most respondents (45% of those sampled) indicated that the private grazing land they owned was supporting more than 10 animals. But this finding should be taken with caution and subject to further investigation as owning a private grazing land that supports significant number of animals is unlikely in land scarce northern part of the country.
- 35 - Types of livestock owned by the families of the deceased in rural areas include oxen, cows, sheep, goats, donkeys, mules and horses. A significant number of respondents also have poultry. Many households replied that the number of livestock owned has increased as a result of the support by the program. Detailed findings of the types of livestock and other assets owned are summarized and presented in annex section.
2.4. HOUSEHOLD NEEDS AND PRIORITIES
The major support requested by most of the rural families of deceased (first priority) was securing food. Buying livestock was the major need for people from urban areas. Only few people from rural areas prioritized getting job that generates some sort of salary. The summary of the findings and the detailed results are presented in Table 6 and the annex section respectively.
Table 6. Distribution of Respondents By First Priority First Priority Number of Respon dents Rural (n=167) % Urban (n=89) % Getting a Job 3 1.79 18 20.22 Getting Food 47 28.14 12 13.48 Buying Livestock 30 17.96 21 23.59 Start a Business 31 18.56 2 2.24 Getting Farmland 15 8.98 6 6.74 Other unspecified Needs 41 24.55 30 33.70 Total 167 100.00 89 100.00
Most of the families of the deceased from rural areas expressed the opinion that they would like to be involved in other off-farm activities to augment their income. As indicated in the annex volume of this report, about 42% of the respondents consider business, including off-farm activities, as a top priority. A significant number of the respondents also indicated that they do not need any off-farm activity. This could be due to the fact that most of the people heading the household were women with no specific skill other than farming and the male household heads (fathers of the deceased) could be old enough to cope up with the mobility requirement of off-farm activities. The results are provided in the annex tables.
As observed during the focus group discussions, the type of off-farm activity chosen by most of the respondents from both rural and urban areas was petty trading. This seems to be an area that attracts most people, as entrance to the market is relatively easier, requires no specific and detailed training and could be a promising venture in some areas.
Most of the respondents were women (widows of the deceased) and believed to have some skill in food processing. The depth of the skill is, however, not investigated and the reply could imply the routine food processing activity undertaken by every women. Even if the finding is acknowledged, the food-processing venture may not be promising as most areas are rural and the towns in the study areas are too small to generate market for the product. The result of the survey is summarized and presented in Table 7.
- 36 - Table 7. Distribution of Respondents By Type of Off-farm Activities Needed
Type of Activity Number of Respondents Rural (n=113) Urban (n=89) _ _ Farming - 8 8.99 Petty Trade 98 86.72 74 83.15 Masonry/Carpentry 3 2.65 - Mechanic 1 0.88 - Tailoring 1 0.88 - Food Processing 6 5.30 - Leather Work 2 1.76 5 5.62 Other 2 1.76 2 2.25 Total 113 100.00 89 100.00
The reason for choosing the activities identified in Table 7, according to most people, was by assuming that there would be a market for their product. The result also indicated that a significant proportion of the respondents did have experience in the activities chosen.
2.5. ASSISTANCE REQUIREMENT
Respondents were asked what support they require most to start the off-farm activities chosen above. But only few people from rural areas have responded to this question that seems to be not showing the overall picture. Despite the number of the respondents, those who replied indicated that the need for business training was their priority. Recognizing this fact, some business training programs were included in the program package and have been conducted to orient these people about starting a business activity.
In urban areas the need for housing support was indicted to be the major support required. This could be due to the fact that most people lost their houses during occupation and/or wanted to have some place to start the petty trading or other activities anticipated.
It was also learnt that those respondents from rural areas required the support for relevant materials to take off their business activity. Some respondents also asked for getting support for livestock purchase. A group discussion made in Mentebteb kebele of T/Adiabo woreda indicated that some families of the deceased want to get involved in trading small animals. The need for livestock support could be in line with this aspiration. The need for farmland was also forwarded by respondents and all of them want to have access to the land where they were living during the survey. Summary of the results are presented in Table 15 and the annex section.
Families of the deceased from rural areas were asked to give their view as to how long the support should be extended to bring about full rehabilitation. Only 12% of the respondents indicated that the support would bring impact on their life in about six months time. For the majority of the respondents, at least one year's support is required. This demand, however, seems to be not in line with the support package designed for families of the deceased, as they are entitled to get support only once. Some information gap seems to exist with this regard.
The orientation given by the concerned parties as to how the support should be utilized, the monitoring job undertaken by the kebele/woreda RTF and the community themselves, and the ban on the utilization of the fund extended for some feasts and memorial services in some areas are expected to have a significant impact on the result. The time over which the support should be extended as viewed by the respondents from rural areas is presented in Table 8.
- 37 - Table 8. Distribution of Respondents By Time Required for Full Rehabilitation (N=162)
Time Required Number of Respondents % Less than 6 months 19 11.72 7-12 months 92 56.71 13-20 months 18 11.11 21-30 months 22 13.58 31-36 months 11 6.79 Total 162 100.00
2.6. HIV/AIDS AWARENESS
The issue of IfV/AIDS is one of the major components in the household rehabilitation program. Efforts to create awareness and control the epidemic are almost in place in areas covered during the survey. All groups of people and individuals consulted including the families of the deceased did get the orientation and have the know-how. It was also observed that at kebele and woreda levels, there were HIV/AIDS prevention committees and a regular orientation program was being conducted in schools, churches, market places and other public gathering areas. It was indicated by some groups consulted that some improvements in attitudinal change is being observed among the community.
Families of the deceased consulted in all areas covered by the survey did have sufficient information about the 1IIV/AIDS epidemic including its major transmission mechanisms, and prevention methods. The result of the survey also confirmed this as more than 98% of those replied from rural areas do know about the pandemic. The majority of the respondents also indicated that some kind of training/counseling was given to them. The findings of the survey are presented in the annex tables.
The major source of information in both rural and urban areas about HIV/AIDS was found to be meetings. This indicates that significant attention was given by all the kebele/tabia officials to create awareness about the pandemic. Mass media, particularly radio was also indicated by significant number of respondents to be the major source of information.
All people consulted did know one or more of the transmission mechanisms of HIV/AIDS. Uncontrolled sexual activity was the major transmission mechanism identified by most of the respondents followed by using infected materials like syringe and blades.
All of the respondents also knew one or more of the prevention mechanisms that should be used to protect one-self from being infected by the pandemic. One to one was the method identified by most of the respondents.
The assessment made to identify what methods the families of the deceased were using to protect themselves from the pandemic revealed that one to one is the method used by most of them followed by not using infected materials (syringe/blade). It was, however, indicated that about 1.27% of the respondents from rural areas and - % from urban areas were not using any prevention method. This could imply refraining from any sexual activities as some widows of the deceased indicated during the group discussions that they were not involving in any of it. Detailed results of the survey are presented in the annex section.
- 38 - 3. DEPORTEES
3.1. BASELINE INFORMATION ON DEPORTEES
A baseline survey on deportees was carried out by UNICEF in Tigray in September, 2001. The survey covered a sample size of 600 deportee households. Structured interviews and participatory methods were applied for establishing the baseline information. The findings of the survey are summarized and presented here.
The duration of stay in Eritrea of the interviewed deportees/returnees varies. However, the majority of them has spent over 20 year in the country. This implies that many deportees/returnees - and especially the children of the interviewees - have never lived in Ethiopia. This is a possible element of vulnerability: for children, because they might have difficulties in adapting to the new environment, and especially in school. For the family as whole, the loss of the family support networks after many years of absence adds to the economic and social fragility. Youth (both boys and girls) also face difficulties of integration, especially in urban areas.
Table 1. Duration of stay of deportees/returnees in Eritrea
| 0-5 years 6-10 years 11-20 years Over 20 years 136 107 98 265 23% 18% 16% 44%
It was estimated that as a result of the Ethio-Eritrean conflict in May 1998, an estimated 95,000 Ethiopians were deported from Eritrea of which about 75,000 are in Tigray. The results of the UNICEF survey indicate that deportees are a fragile social group within Tigray. Since there are no major cultural disparities between the deportees/returnee and local communities, and many already possess productive skills, their major vulnerabilities are due to their complete loss of property, means of livelihood and lack of social networks to fall back upon
While receiving the standard DPPC/DPPB food ration and cash grant, the study indicates that only 17% were able to start income generating activities. The majority became--and remain--dependent on relief assistance. Some women expressed their concern for the lack adequate food for their children; the planned reduction of food distributions in IDP areas which affect deportees/returnees as well, might have concerning consequences on the nutritional status of deportee/returnee children and other vulnerable categories, especially the elderly.
The support from relatives of origin was found to be below expectations. The study indicates that most deportee returning to their village/town of origin (75%), found little to ease the process of reintegration. Only a minority of the respondents was able to receive actual material support from family members and to find a stable source of income. The reasons for families not being able to provide support are "poverty" of the (host) family (72%).
Despite commendable efforts-of the regional authorities, it has been difficult to ensure that all deportee children go to school. The Regional Education Bureau adopted a policy of entry exams for children who do not have documentation. However, some were unable to complete the exams and join school in time for the current academic year (September-June). Other constraints to education include lack of money to buy education materials and uniforms, and to a lesser extent, lack of places in schools. Most schools are operating on double shifts already. In some schools in Mekele, over 70 children are found in a single classroom.
- 39 - Most of the deportees have problems with housing. To this effect, the initial relief package is exhausted in a few months in order to pay for the rent. Increased urban poverty and social tensions are often experienced. In rural areas, deportees receiving monthly food rations (approximately 19,000 were on the REST/WFP distribution list until November 2001) have used their rations to pay for accommodation, sometimes only a plastic shelter. Children and the elderly are the ones who suffer most of exposure to cold weather, especially in Adigrat and surrounding areas.
When they were in Eritrea, most adult deportees were engaged in a number of activities, mostly unskilled and were living in the urban areas especially in Asmara. They were petty traders, domestic and casual workers, masons etc.
Access to employment opportunities for returnees/deportees will mostly depend on the overall economic development the region. As mentioned earlier, major recovery programmes (ERP/WB) have targeted IDPs and the families of the deceased. Recovery/rehabilitation of returnees/deportees has yet to be started. A concerted action and strong is necessary. Previous poor and untimely response towards the plight of returnees from Assab in Amhara Region (South Wollo) has brought about a difficult situation in which integration and economic recovery appear unattainable.
Table 2: Engaged in income generating activities
Yes No n/v Eastern zone Rural Hawzien I 1 49 Sae Sae 10 50 Gantafeshum 2 38 17 Urban Adigrat 15 103 5 Central zone Rural Ahferom 10 20 Urban Axum 30 30 Adwa 2 58 Western zone Urban Shire 17 43 Mekelle Urban Mekelle 7 84 7 TOTAL 104 475 29 Percentage of total 17% 78% 5%
The finding of the survey suggests that getting job opportunities is a priority for all deportees. Most left Eritrea for economic reasons where, prior to the conflict, they had been productive members of the society, able to support themselves. Most are now in conditions of dependency. The number of people who have been able use DPPC/B cash grants to initiate a business or other economic activity is small (10%), as many were compelled to spend the money for household utensils and furniture, sending children to school, paying rent, etc. Women working in the Mekelle's market were interviewed in focus group discussions. As their activities are traditionally low income generating and small scaled (tea/coffee making, selling of small items etc.), competition is high and making enough to meet family needs is a major challenge. In many respects, this condition of lost livelihoods mirrors the plight of the 1999 returnees from Assab to Amhara Region who faced an exceptionally difficult situation in which integration and economic recovery appear unattainable. For women and young girls especially, the inability to find a job or to start up a small business, exposes them to increased risk of being involved in prostitution, especially in areas of high military presence and sexually transmitted diseases, including H1V/AIDS.
- 40 - 3.2. POTENTIAL INCOME GENERATING ACTIVITIES (IGS)
Major income generating activities identified during the survey in both rural and urban areas are similar except for few activities particularly applicable to rural villages. The summary of these activities is presented in the following table.
No Income Generating Activity I Petty Trading 2 Running Tea Rooms 3 Livestock Trading 4 Local Brewing and Selling Food 5 Hides and Skins Trading 6 Tailoring 7 Butchery 8 Running Local Oil Mill 9 Metal Work 10 Poultry Farm 1I Group Run Grain Mill Project 12 Bee Keeping
Petty trading, running tea rooms, local brewing and selling food, tailoring, butchery, metal work, running oil and grain mills were typical income generating activities practiced in urban areas visited. One can also find most of these activities exercised in some rural areas located nearer to the towns. Bee keeping is an activity particularly mentioned by rural IDPs in Irob woreda. Similarly rural families of deceased in T/Adiabo woreda of Mentebteb kebele mentioned the possibility of involving in trading small animals like sheep and goats. Achievement of good result by displaced women in Rama town involved in local brewing activities has been observed during the fieldwork. It was also observed in some towns (Axum, Inticho, Adigrat) that deportees particularly those in young ages were doing very well in running small tearooms and liquor bars.
3.2.1. Petty Trading
This activity does not require any specific training to initiate it. A little start up capital for initial investment and some know how about running a business could be what is needed. But for reasonable result, a preliminary assessment/knowledge about commodities demanded in that particular area needs to be conducted by the person wishing to involve in the venture. Short orientation programs with regard to this activity (record keeping, turn-over issues etc.) may also be an added value for its success.
Considering the prevailing situation in Tigray Region, petty trading does not look a promising venture as most people were displaced and lost their property and relying on external support for their livelihood. This certainly suppresses demand for the items. It can also be observed that many people may get involved into this venture and make the items available on competitive basis and eventually lead to decline in prices.
3.2.2 Running Tea/Coffee Rooms and Local Brewing/Food Processing
These income-generating activities are promising particularly in towns located near the border and where the military presence is significant. This situation is expected to generate huge demand, but may be short lived. This is manifested by the fact that in some border towns visited, the business seems to be saturated as a result of the involvement of several people in the venture. For instance, all houses in Gerhusemay town are apparently converted into mini shops and bars to accommodate the demand generated. It was observed that the venture is still promising in towns such as Rama where demand is generated from within the locality.
- 41 - Besides the demand issue, these income-generating activities need significant initial investment for equipment, and furniture, and running budget for house rent, utilities and other miscellaneous expenses. The beneficiaries (the IDPs and Deportees) may not fulfill these inputs with the rehabilitation support provided. Families of the deceased in urban areas may be in a better position to initiate this activity as the benefit package obtained could cover the cost of initial investment and running costs. Intervention with this regard should, however, take into account the initial investment issue and the specific situation of the area. A blanket recommendation should not be made for all the target areas.
3.2.3 Tailoring and Metal Work
These income-generating activities require some training and people who are expected to get involved in these activities need to have some background. Two categories of beneficiaries can be identified with this regard: beneficiaries with some traditional know-how and people with no or little background but have the interest want to initiate it with some support. The second group of people would certainly require some training with this regard.
Providing trainings depends on the availability of resources and institutions (private/public) offering these training programs. These factors determine the cost of the training, the duration and the number of people to be trained. It seems most unlikely that training institutions are available in most of the affected areas putting the second group of people on a disadvantaged position.
For those beneficiaries with some know-how of tailoring and metal work, provision of initial capital to procure the equipment required is necessary. Tailoring seems to be a viable activity in some border towns but metal work is mentioned only in one woreda i.e. Irob (apparently selling the services to the community). Irob woreda is, however, not easily accessible to the nearest town, Adigrat, to create demand for its products. This makes the proceed from this venture not promising and generates demand for the service only from the surrounding locals. It can, however, be supported with minimum input and probably little training to improve the already available knowledge. It is believed that people who will get involved in this venture do have some know-how about metal work.
3.2.4. Grain Mills
This income-generating activity needs substantial initial investment and significant running cost afterwards. The beneficiaries particularly families of the deceased who mentioned this activity do know the investment required, but they suggested pulling resources together in the form of an association and initiate the activity. The idea is commendable, but considering the background of the beneficiaries (most of them are women who lost their husbands), it makes management of the project difficult. Besides this, investing all the support on one investment opportunity increases the risk factor.
The investment seems to be viable in rural areas where the service is not yet adequately provided, but the managerial capacity of the beneficiaries in rural areas in smooth running of the business should be seriously looked at. Moreover, the tradition of the people in the area working together in harmony and run the business needs consideration. The overall mandate to initiate this cooperation should be totally left to the beneficiaries themselves.
3.2.5. Poultry Farming/ Bee Keeping
Poultry farming on commercial scale needs through knowledge about the business and requires strict management. The risk is also very high when the initial investment required is taken into account. It seems unlikely that the beneficiaries in both rural and urban areas (under the prevailing circumstances) can handle poultry farming at commercial level. Keeping poultry at household level could be feasible but it may not bring about significant and rapid change in the living standards of the beneficiaries. This can, however, be improved with some orientation programs conducted where relevant addressing the management, marketing
- 42 - etc. of the product. Besides, the possibility of integrating this venture with other income-generating activities needs to be investigated.
Bee keeping is specifically mentioned by people from Irob woreda. There seems to be a traditional know- how of producing honey in this woreda. It looks feasible to introduce modem bee keeping methods so that production can be improved. Experience tells that the proceed from the sale of honey is also significant. But creating demand for the product should be assessed and facilitated before initiating the activity.
3.2.6. Transport Services - Cart
Significant job creation has been observed in some areas by introducing this income generating activity by some non-governmental organizations. This activity is particularly feasible for women with some entrepreneurial motives and living in and around towns. It could be adapted to fit into Tigray Region's situation. The animals required for the service are also donkeys. Some beneficiaries mentioned during group discussions that this income generating activity is feasible in some selected towns/areas of the region.
3.3. RECOMMENDATIONS
Based on the results of the baseline survey, the following recommendations are made:
* Continued relief assistance is required for many of the deportees. This includes food distribution, temporary shelter and blankets to selected vulnerable families, the provision of educational materials to deportee/returnee students, especially in areas where they do not access assistance provided to IDPs. Priority should be given to larger families.
* More sensitive and targeted assistance is required for single parent households. Advocacy is required at all levels for a cessation of induced repatriations (in both countries). This echoes the recent appeal by the UN Secretary General, requesting Eritrea and Ethiopia to ease conditions for respective expatriate populations of both countries, thus ending the continuing rounds of forced and induced repatriation.
* Since late 2000, an increased number of children and youth living on the streets in Mekelle and Adigrat has been reported. The extent to which deportee/returnee populations contribute to this phenomenon is not quantified though empirical information suggests it is considerable. Authorities are concerned that the arrival of deportees/returnees may contribute to the increase in juvenile crime. While, the problem of streetism in Ethiopia is complicated and multi-faceted, the specific situation of deportee/returnee youth should be more fully assessed as the basis for appropriate advocacy and program response.
* Children have suffered unfairly during the various phases of the deportation/return from Eritrea. As their parents have invested in their education while in Eritrea, the right to continued education should be promoted not only with material support but also by clarifying policies and bureaucratic process and ensuring that deportees/returnees are aware of their entitlements. For example, larger families should benefit in the waiving or subsidizing of school fees.
* The humanitarian situation of deportees/returnees will require continuous monitoring by the regional administration with the support of federal, local and international aid agencies. As deportees/returnees lack an internal social organization on their own as they come from different areas and experiences while in Eritrea, associative efforts should be encouraged such as women's, vocational and youth groups.
- 43 - * Long term interventions will have to address the problems of deportees/returnees within the context of the development of the region and include the creation of stable income producing opportunities. Deportees/returnees with technical/professional skills should be identified and matched with the needs of the region. Additional vocational skills training should be provided to groups who have similar interest and skills, to encourage them to set up businesses in the form of cooperatives.
* In urban areas, income-generating activities should target deportee/returnee women. A priority will be mobilizing and organizing women towards the creation of cooperatives according to their skills. Training on management, leadership skills, management of credit and specific technical skills should be provided to these groups. Provision of credit aimed at supporting small income generating initiative should be carefully planned and accompanied by training.
* In addition to viable vocational and skills building activities, deportee/returnees should be also be involved in community-based Mine Risk Education activities given the continuing risks faced and incidents occurring.
* Younger girls should be targeted for vocational skills training that will allow them to find jobs, accompanied by awareness training on HIV/AIDS and family planning. Girls and women involved in prostitution should be prioritized.
* In addition, the regional authorities should be supported in finding solutions for the lack of shelter, through provision of semi-permanent housing materials in rural areas and investigate options for low-cost housing in urban areas. Deportees/returnees should be specifically targeted in the regional and federal level policies, aimed at improving access to housing and land.
3.4. ESTIMATE OF FOOD ASSISTANCE
The total number of deportees is estimated at about 75,000 people. According to the information obtained from the Tigray DPPB, food assistance was distributed for 20,000 deportees in the three zones of Tigray. The food assistance was distributed by WFP which has already terminated. The DPPB indicated that food assistance will be required for one year at least for the 20,000 deportees. Accordingly, the food assistance requirement is estimated as follows:
Food Assistance Requirement for Deportees
Food Item Quantity per Duration No. of Total Food month (kg) (months) Beneficiaries requirement (Quintals) WheaVSorghum 15 12 20,000 36,000 Oil 0.7 12 20,000 1,800 FAMIX 2 12 5000 1,200
Assumptions:
* Food assistance is required for one year. * 25% of the deportees are children under five years old and pregnant and/or lactating mothers (5000) need supplementary food assistance.
- 44 - 4. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
4.1. CONCLUSIONS
The baseline survey revealed that the first two years were the time when there was a high rate of displacement from both rural and urban areas in Tigray Region. Most households in rural areas have lost their livestock and few were trying to restore it by the support obtained from the program. For some of the IDPs, fear of landmines and the destruction of houses were the major reasons identified by rural IDPs for not returning to their original place. The majority of people from rural areas and all the displaced people from urban centers have already returned to their original place and resumed their routine activities. The time of return was years 2001/02. apparently after the termination of the conflict.
The urban centers covered by the survey had access to potable water supply, education and health services. More than 80% of the people in rural areas had also access to education and health services. The quality of the services in both cases is not investigated. But potable water supply was found to be crucial in areas like Bademe.
The level of education in both urban and rural areas was low as more than 50% of those consulted from rural areas were illiterate. About 75% of the people consulted in both rural and urban areas did not have any special skills. Only few people did have skills in food processing, artisanship and masonry/carpentry.
The problem of housing was significant in areas like Bademe and Irob woredas. For instance, houses in four kebeles around Gerhu-sernay were totally destroyed. In some cases the internally displaced people were forced to stay in plastic sheets covered roofs and this had became a cause for fire hazard. The plastic sheets used for roofing in Woretle kebele of Irob woreda were found to be old. No housing package was fully in place for all the affected groups and areas. Only a pilot project was underway in Marta Kebele of Gulomekeda wereda.
Most of the displaced people from rural areas (85.8%) did have their own houses before displacement. The houses were constructed traditionally (Edimo) and only few of them did have roofs of corrugated iron sheets. Most respondents from rural areas expressed their need to reconstruct their houses in relatively modern way by using corrugated iron sheets and timber.
The fear of landmines was high on the problem list of all parties consulted in the region. No full-fledged de- mining activities have started during the survey. The Rehabilitation and Development Organization (RADO) was aggressively working to create awareness about landmines and provide counseling services to landmine victims in the affected woredas of the region. The organization is conducting landmine awareness creation programs in schools, and also by organizing a listening groups in kebeles (1 5 groups/kebele). The effect of fear of landmines was vivid as three quarters of the people contacted from rural areas indicated that they had farmlands not cultivated as a result.
All the displaced people consulted in urban areas and the majority from rural areas were getting food assistance during the survey and this has been going on for more than 6 months. A significant number of them had also access to the support even before the start of the conflict.
According to the survey, about 60% of the sampled deceased beneficiaries from rural areas and 46% from urban areas were below the age of twenty that indicates the existence of higher dependency and burden on the heads of the households and the significance of the support. The survey result showed that more than 63% of the deceased from rural areas and 46% from urban areas were married. This also signifies that there are many dependants (a wife and children). A significant number of the deceased in both urban (41%) and rural (48.2%) areas have more than one benefiting households. It was also learnt that most of the beneficiary households are female headed except very few headed by males.
- 45 - The major support requested by most of the families from rural areas (first priority) was securing food. Buying livestock was the major need for people from urban areas. Only few people from rural areas prioritized getting job that generates some sort of salary. The type of off-farm activity preferred by most of the respondents from both rural and urban areas was petty trading. In urban areas, the need for housing support was indicted to be the major support required.
Even though services like education, health and water supply have resumed in most of the rural areas and the majority of urban centers, the quality of the services was not to the level expected. The supply of potable water was not sufficient.
4.2. RECOMMENDATIONS
Based on the findings of the baseline survey, the following recommendations are made:
* The landmines clearing activity should be resumed as soon as possible which otherwise will limit the returnees to put the land under cultivation and accelerate the rehabilitation process.
* Restoring basic services like water supply and education services (school reconstruction, furniture availing etc.) are issues that should be given due consideration.
* The reconstruction of houses should take place as soon as possible since it is one of the factors for the return of the IDPs to their villages.
* Some skills upgrading training programs needs to be identified and included in the intervention package to fill the gap and help people generate income and accelerate the process of rehabilitation.
* The RTFs organized at different levels are accomplishing tremendous jobs in the rehabilitation process free of charge. This input is made at the expense of their time and effort. This calls for extension of possible incentives for these RTF to maintain their support and commitment.
* Future interventions should consider the price variations particularly livestock as the prevailing price in some areas was 100% higher than the amount of money provided for that purpose.
* Some IDP households are headed by women mainly because their husbands disappeared during the Eritrean occupation. The where about of the disappeared persons is not known, not registered as deceased and the family is getting only the benefit for displacement. Special support package may need to be designed for these families.
* Some families of deceased possessed land that can be put under cultivation. But due to lack of labour the available land has not been utilized. A mechanism at local level should be sought to utilize this resource (apparently a scarce resource in most areas).
* Based on the proposed rehabilitation strategy for deportees, which is presented in this report, the rehabilitation process should take place as soon as possible. It is worth noting that some of the elements of the deportees rehabilitation strategy could be applicable to the urban families of deceased.
- 46 - CHAPTER TWO: AMHARA NATION REGIONAL STATE
REGIONAL PROFILE
The Amhara Nation Regional State (ANRS) has an area of 170,152 square kilometers. The population of the region was estimated to be 16.7 million as of July 2001, which was about 26 percent of the total population of the country. It is made up of 11 administrative zones, 105 woredas and 3051 kebeles. Close to 90 percent of the population earn their living from agriculture and live in rural areas. The region has identified 48 woredas as food insecure in the region.
Food shortage and low income are common phenomena in rural areas. Reportedly, much of the production comes from areas with adequate rainfall. About 48 woredas in the region are drought prone and are identified as food insecure. The food insecure woredas are mainly in north and south Wollo, north gondar and Oromiya zones. The majority of the people live on subsistent farming where crop production and livestock husbandry constitute the main farm activities and the major sources of household income. The annual household production is no more than 2.5 quintals of crops(average yield of cereals being I Q/ha and of pulses 0.7 Q/ha), and the annual average household income from farm and non-farm sources is no more than Birr 2000. Of this, income from farm activities accounts for well over 70 percent.
Many factors contribute to this unfavourable situation. Productivity of land and labour is low even though the Region's resource base could boast of many high potential areas, a lot of water resources, and suitable areas and conducive climate for crop and livestock production. Low use of agricultural inputs and improved technologies; poor economic infrastructure ( roads, markets,.. etc.); population pressure and poor management of natural resources ; and inadequate research and extension services are the other key constraints.
The region is also affected by the conflict between Ethiopia and Eritrea - there are quite significant number of families of deceased and deportees. The families of deceased are distributed all over the woredas in the region. The majority of the families of deceased reside in rural areas and are engaged in farming and some off-farm activities, while deportees are in urban centres.
1. FAMILIES OF THE DECEASED
1.1. BACKGROUND
In the Amhara Regional state, there are two ERP regional coordinating offices. These offices are positioned in Bahir Dar and Dessie towns for Western and Eastern Amhara areas respectively. The Bahir Dar office is responsible to coordinate ERP activities of North and South Gonder, East and North Gojam, Agewawi Zones, and the Bahir Dar special zone. The Dessie sub-regional office also coordinates the activities of the program in North and South Wollo, Wag Himra, Oromiya, and Semen Shewa Zones. In each zones, technical task forces (TTF) are formed with members from different sector departments. Similarly, TTFs are formed in each Woredas of the region to carry out routine ERP works, and monitor and evaluate the disbursements of the benefit package for entitled beneficiaries.
The ERP support is released in a series of tranches. The status of the first tranche up until August 2001 was as follows.
- 47 - Table 1: The Deceased and their Families in Amhara (August 2001)
Zones Total Total Total Money Total Amount Amount Paid to Number of Number of Allotted in First Transferred to Beneficiaries Deceased Beneficiaries Trench zones/Woredas Amhara 9442 18294 100864264 56488486.44 36219897.1 Region N/Gondar 1607 3419 17234033.2 9570000 5839382.62 S/Gondar 1217 2331 13019806.6 7890000 2262374.17 N/Wollo 1369 2498 14618231.3 8085000 4973912.19 S/Wollo 1467 2630 15632618.1 8580000 5515529 E/Gojjam 949 1867 10271740.9 5610000' 4126590.7 W/Gojjam 835 1844 8849224.4 4840000 847988.48 Bahir Dar 196 298 2082989.14 1100000 0 N/Shewa 931 1645 9902072.94 5280000 NI Wag Himra 285 651 3066465.14 1650000 2654878.4 Agew Awi 405 914 4277928.3 2765000 432460.8 Oromiya 99 144 1043062.73 550000 9566780.7 Unidentifie 82 53 866091.71 568486.44 NI
d I_ _ _ __I_ _ __I _ _ _ _ _ I______I__ Source: The Federal ERP Monitoring Unit, 2001.
It is observed from the table above that about 36% of the financial support was released in the first trench until August 2001. Including the 64 percent not yet paid in the first trench, the number of beneficiaries who are waiting for the release of their share is considerable. Thus, this study takes into account both paid and unpaid beneficiaries from urban and rural areas. .
1.2. SOCIO-ECONOMIC CHARACTERISTICS OF BENEFICIARY HOUSEHOLDS
A total of 133 rural and 64 urban families of deceased households were covered by the survey. About 65% of the deceased from rural areas were below the age of thirty, while in urban areas, those at this age boundary are above 95%. As indicated in the figures below, the marital status of the deceased from urban and rural areas significantly differs. Most of the deceased from urban areas were unmarried whereas 50% of the deceased from the rural areas were married. This is basically due to differences in socio-economic and cultural settings of urban and rural areas. As a result of this difference, the number of beneficiaries per deceased also varies. More than 65% of the deceased reportedly had two or more beneficiary households in rural areas but about 75% of urban deceased had only one beneficiary household.
Marital Status-Rural Deceased Marital Status-Urban Deceased Wdow ed Widowed 0% 2%0 Married Divorced Divorced 24% Married Unmarrie 49% d 44% Unmarried 74%
-48 - The relationships of the beneficiaries with the deceased are illustrated in the following figures for rural and urban areas separately. According to the results of the survey, 30% of the beneficiaries in rural areas are brothers and sisters followed by mothers (2 1%) and fathers and children which explains the extended family system in Ethiopia. The situation is somewhat different in urban areas where 30% of the beneficiaries are reported to be mothers followed by fathers. This is mainly true for the unmarried and./or divorced deceased.
The Relationship of Beneficiaries with the The Relationship of Beneficiaries with the Deceased-Rural Deceased-Urban
Wife/Husb Other Spouse Other andhii Brother/Si Mother 7% 10% Child 8% 6o/3% ster 21% _911 16% _ 18% lrAbther Ft a h . Fath6%oll", Brother/Si ~~~39%/ W-Father 16% ster 26% 30%
In both urban and rural areas, the share of spouses as beneficiaries is relatively low which could partly be explained by the fact that the percentage of unmarried deceased is high, especially in urban areas and that most beneficiaries listed in the personal files of the deceased are mainly parents as well as brothers and sisters who used to depend on them.
Central Statistical Authority and the people aware of the social strata of the rural areas consider every individual above the age of ten as part and parcel of the active labor force stock of households. The sample survey results indicate that about 20% of the beneficiaries are children below the age of ten while the remaining 80% of the beneficiaries could in one way or the other contribute to agriculture or related non- farm activities. It was found that about 41 % of the beneficiaries are within the age bracket of 20 to 35 years. Mostly, people within this age limit are physically energetic and eager to enthusiastically involve in social activities in the community and potentially learn and engage in non-traditional income generating activities. On the other hand, about 64% of urban beneficiaries are with the age limit of twenty to thirty; where as about 26.6% and 9.4% are below twenty or above 30 years - details are provided in the annex volume of this report.
The level of education has its own effect on the choice of kind of economic activity to engage in and the level of efficiency. As indicated in table 2.2., of the total number of beneficiaries whose educational background was reported, about 59% are found illiterate in rural areas and this figure is lower only by 6% in the case of urban areas. Although the combination slightly varies, the share of beneficiaries who are within or above primary schooling are about 33 to 34% of the total in both urban and rural areas.
Table 2: Distribution of Beneficiaries by Educational Background
Urban (n=117) Rural (n=387) Education Level Number of Number of Beneficiaries- Beneficiaries % Share Illiterate 62 53.00% 229 59.20% Read & Write 15 12.80% 25 6.50% Primary 27 23.10% 127 2.80% Secondary 12 10.30% 6 1.60% Higher education 1 0.90% 0 0.00% Total 1i17 100.00% 587 100.00%
-49 - Yet, the educational background of the sample beneficiaries is above the national and the regional average. Thus, households of the deceased, particularly those in the rural areas do have relatively better educational background, which could help them acquiring knowledge on identifying better income generating activities and exploiting the opportunities. However, it is to be noted that education for children should be part of the rehabilitation package since there is a potential for the children of the deceased to discontinue schooling due to lack of support.
1.3. SKILLS AND OCCUPATION OF RESPONDENTS
As to recent dates, a significant number of the beneficiaries and their families outside the support package do not have special skills. Very few of the respondents reported that they do not have special skills and only few of them have masonry/carpentry, food processing and some other minor skills. While this could be acceptable in the case of rural households, the situation in urban areas is questionable since some of them are governmental and non-governmental organizations employees, daily labourers in various activities, etc which have not probably be reported. Thus, one should be careful in interpreting the results below.
Table 3: Distribution of Beneficiaries by Skill Type
Urban (n=507) Rural (n=279) Number of Number of l Type of Skill Beneficiaries % Share Beneficiaries /O_Share None 486 95.90% 237 84.90% Metal work 0 0.00% 1 0.40% Masonry/Carpent ry 2 0.40% 7 .50% Food processing 3 _ 0.60% 6 2.20% Other 16 3.20% 28 10.00% Total 507 1100.00% 279 100.00%
With regard to the current occupation of rural respondents, amazingly only 32.5% of household members are reported to be farmers, around 30% are engaged in non-farm activities (in addition to farming), whereas others do not have any kind of occupation, either due to age limitations or other reasons. Despite the fact that most of rural beneficiary households may not have special skills, they have already been involved in non- farming activities of various types and it only requires providing them advice and some basic orientations to pursue further in their areas.
3 Occu ation Skills of Beneficiaries in Rural 30%/ -_ 25°/ - _ | _ 200/- 1
- 50 - The survey result shows that 96% of the sample beneficiaries in urbanuu areas do not have any kind of occupation, and only two individuals are engaged in metallic work or in house service. This seems rather misleading and might be partly due to reporting problem from the respondents with the fear that they may not be included for the rehabilitation program if information on occupation is provided.
It was estimated that about 65.5% of the rural and 43.8% of the urban households earn less than Birr 1000.00 per annum. The annual income includes only cash from petty trade, employment, sales of farm products etc. and does not include the income of the beneficiaries in kind. To this effect, it is observed that more households in urban areas get more cash income than rural households which is justified by employment, petty trading, employment etc. Assuming, an average family size of five, the per capita income of these segments of beneficiary households would be lower than 23.5 US dollar. This is less than a quarter of the national per capita level of income. Only about 12 percent of both rural and urban households reported to earn more than 3000 per household (about Birr 600.00 or 71 US dollars per capita) annually. Albeit the figures seem to be meager, it is not very much different from the overall condition of the region.
Table 4: Distribution of Beneficiaries by the Level of Annual Income
Urban (N=80) Rural (N=139) Level of Income Number of Income Number of Income Earner % Share Earner % Share Less than 1000 Birr 35 43.80% 91 65.50% 1000 - 3000 Birr 3 41.30% 31 2.30% Above 3000 Birr 12 15.00% 17 12.20% Total 80 100.00% 139 100.00
In Amhara Region, 48 woredas are identified as food insecure woredas. The food insecurity situation affects both the rural centers (secondary towns) and the rural areas is estimated that about 61% of the rural and 34% of the urban population of the region face risks of food insecurity. Among the food insecure woredas, Farta, Lay Gaint and Tach Gaint (Gondar), Meket, Gidan, Gubalafto (North Wollo) are included. Some NGOs are involved in development efforts in these woredas. In Farta, CARE and GTZ are working principally in the provision of food aid. CPAR and FHI work in Lay Gaint, and FHI and AMELD are also engaged in food aid in Tach Gaint. In North Wollo, SOS Sahel, SCF(UK), Oxfam GB and others are actively involved in development efforts.
1.4. ASSET HOLDINGS
While the magnitude of asset holdings could be taken as a proxy for the stock of wealth of households, their type or composition determines the degree of modernization or exposition about new ways of life and doing things. The household asset holding is given in annex tables. The livestock holding is provided in the table below.
As indicated in the table above, nearly half of the households do not currently own even an ox. It is as much as 35% of the households that do have a single ox to unite with others and farm in spite of being primarily occupied in agrarian activities. It is only 40.8%, 17.7% and 39.2% of the families that reported to have cows, sheep and goats, respectively. Pack animals have economic importance in the region - they are either rented- out and used as an income sources, or the households use them as a means of transport for the household petty trading purpose. As indicated in the table above, only 27 and 6 of the 130 families have donkeys, and horses and mules, respectively.
- 51 - Table 5: Livestock Holding by Species
Type of Size Current Status Additional Purchase animal Plans No. of HiH % Share No. of HH % Share Ox None 64 49.2 36 27.7
______Only one 46 35.4 41 43.6 Only two 17 13.1 48 36.9
______More than two 3 2.3 5 3.8 Cows None 77 59.2 26 20.0 Only one 39 30.0 44 33.8 Only two 11 8.5 36 27.7 More than two 3 2.3 24 18.5 Sheep None 107 82.3 53 40.8 Only one 5 3.8 2 1.5 Only two 8 6.2 16 12.3 More than two 10 7.7 59 45.4 Goats None 79 60.8 75 57.7 Only one 10 7.7 12 9.2 Only two 13 10 26 20 _ More than two 28 21.5 17 13.1
Of the 130 respondents, only 44 (33.8%) have reported to have private grazing land. The vast majority of them do not have grazing land even to lodge one additional animal. In most cases, they use communal grazing land which is often without sufficient pasture for the animals. It was reported that about 69% of those who claim to have a grazing land accommodate animals ranging from one to five where as others could do more than that. The current grazing land status of the households considered in the study does not seem to let securing the intended number of animals. However, the various discussions with the professionals, beneficiaries and other stakeholders revealed that the situation should be seen in other dimensions.
Many parts of the Amhara Region is degraded with long years of traditional farming practices and left with no or little forestry coverage. Ironically, proposed animal husbandry projects in terms of cattle fattening, sheep and goat raring and other animal caring activities are rather likely to lessen problems of environmental degradation than aggravate them. Recently, people are increasingly aware the need for modem way of animal husbandry both in urban and rural areas.
In urban areas, the available option for cattle fattening, sheep, and goat raring is to strictly follow the modem feeding and handling methods - cut and carry system. They have better opportunities to have access for health facilities and by products of floor and oil mills, brewery, wood and other similar industries for animal feeds. For instance, people as far as Debre Tabor use industrial by products from factories of Gondar town.
As experts in agriculture and environment argued, the severe drought occurring for years, for instance in many parts of South Gondar, has been mainly due to backward and awkward ways of farming. Mountainous and sloppy areas of Lay and Taich Gaint were ploughed for centuries with little or no conservation measures. Highlands of Tach Gaint are highly populated and the per-capita land holding including the marginal lands is about half a hectare. In such conditions, if rural families of deceased are encouraged instead to use these marginal lands for animal husbandry with an application of modern cattle management methods, the environment will improve considerably. Nowadays, peasants and NGOs operating in the different localities are progressively producing a pulse called "GUAYA" for animal consumption. The National Livestock Institute for instance uses the Lay Gaint Woreda as its broad research and demonstration area and introduces
- 52 - modem of varieties of animal feed to the localities. The whole process is expected to have a positive impact on augmenting the environment.
Others also argue that beneficiaries have been procuring cattle largely within their localities. This transfer of ownership is not expected to have negative environmental impact at least in the short run and increasing use of modern management techniques would take care of the situation in the future. In some areas like Lay and Tach Gaint, the number of cattle population actually declined due to subsequent droughts. Most households hold only one ox and per capita cattle holding is very small as focus group participants claimed. Thus, the new purchases could be considered as a move to towards maintaining the previous status quo and it would not bring about additional environmental problems.
1.5. NEEDS AND PRIORITIES
The survey made an attempt to assess the needs and priorities of the families of deceased in the study area. As indicated the table below, either the top or secondary felt need or priority of rural sampled households is to acquire livestock. Opting for land is the second priority in rural areas although not significantly felt. As it is evidenced from the percentage share figures, searching for food should not be considered a potential treat for diverting ERP support to non-eligible ventures. Almost all the respondents who want to have access for a plot of land, like to be allotted around the area where they are living.
Table 6: Priorities of Beneficiaries-rural
Type of Rural Areas Urban Areas undertaking ISt priority 2nd priority 3rd priority ISt priority 2nd priority 3rd priority Findajob 0 0.8 1.4 2.9 7 11.8 Getfood 4.7 10.2 13.2 8.8 10 23.5 Start business 5.4 9.4 29.4 42.6 38.3 23.5 Findland 10.9 29.1 23.5 1.5 5 5.9 Buy livestock 56.6 25.2 13.2 4.4 15 29.4 Others 22.5 25.2 19.1 39.7 25 5.9 Total 100 100 100 100 100 100
On the other hand, commencing business activities stands out to be top priority for urban respondents. Striving to secure daily food requirement is also observed to be a serious issue in urban areas.
About 35% of the rural beneficiaries have already reported that they are interested in engaging in off-farm activities. Of the off-farm activities, petty trade is preferred by more than 80% of the respondents. This is the usual and traditional non-farming activity chosen by many people particularly in small towns and their surroundings. The other 20% are to involve in other different activities including one in carpentry and the other one in food processing. Even though, one may not have a complete list of viable non-farm opportunities, masonry/carpentry, tailoring, leatherwork and other handicraft activities do have demand in rural areas, yet due to orientation problems or cultural barriers and lack of skills, they are not within the domain of beneficiary households. These beneficiaries attributed their experience and the availability of adequate market for their preference.
- 53 - Table 7: Distribution of Respondents by Reasons to Start Activities
Reasons Rural- % Share Urban-% Share Having Experience 48.9 69.1 Market Availability 36.2 23.5 Have Tools 0 0 No Farm Land 2.1 0 Others 12.8 7.4 Total 100 100
Either to commence or underpin both farming and non-farming activities, households reported the kind of asset or service support they require as a fundamental requisite.
Table 8: Distribution of Respondents by Type of Support Required
Type of support % Share of % Share of Respondents-Rural Respondents-Urban Training 2.8 1.5 Tools/equipments/materials 29.5 7.6 Livestock 25.4 3.0 Plot of land 2.8 7.6 Housing 8.5 24.2 Others 31.0 56.1 Total 100 100
About 30% of the rural respondents require tools and equipments for farming and materials for inaugurating their petty trade activities, followed by livestock (25%) for dairy farming endeavors. On the other hand, it is interesting to note that housing is becoming a need for the urban families of deceased - 24% of respondents expressed their need for housing. Among those who need to have housing, 61% of them require building materials for construction and 17% need the city councils to offer them land.
Even though, many of the respondents of both rural and urban areas have already declared that they do not have special skills, their needs for training happens to be low. These beneficiaries might consider petty trading; livestock management and other activities could be handled without any formal of training. However, conventional ways of conducting business would no more have the chance to succeed in the face of the fierce competition among given the increasing number of individuals engaged in similar activities. Similarly, traditional ways of livestock production has no viable economic outcomes unless training backs it on feeding, sanitation, breading and marketing.
1.6. INCOME GENERATING SCHEMES AND TRAINING
A more detail scrutiny on income generating activities reveals that their type and magnitude vary depending on the resource potential of different localities, degree of urbanization, the size of the market, education, skill and experience of beneficiaries, the availability of training, and technical supports. In a focused group discussion held in Bahir Dar among the relevant regional government institutions, it was disclosed that the income-generating activities are very much related to the agriculture sector. Nevertheless, some variations are observed between urban and rural areas on the kind of viable income generating activities.
- 54 - 1.6.1. Income Generating Activities in Rural Areas
Petty trading, bee keeping, traditional candle and wax production, sheep and goat caring, forestry, cash crops like vegetables, sisals, and coffee, and similar other small-scale ventures provide a good source of living in rural areas.
According to the focus group discussions with various stakeholders, beekeeping in modern management allows to harvest to the level of 40 kg from one beehive (KEFFO) per annum while the traditional way provides not more than 9 or 10kg. It costs about Birr 198.00 to purchase modem beehives. If training is given to rural beneficiaries by rural technology diffusion sections of the department of agriculture in each Woreda, beekeeping would be a very lucrative activity. In particular, Farta, Meket, and Debre Tobor Woredas have a very good potential for beekeeping, as there are protected forest zones in the nearby areas. According to the focus group discussion participants both from Debre Tabor and Farta Woredas, three investors have already received license to engage in beekeeping within these forests. Highlands, (or DEGA areas) have better resource potentials for horses and special donkies called BAZRA in addition to cattle and sheep raring. For instance, in distant areas of Lay Gaint, Tach Gaint and WadlIla Delanta of North Wollo, horses and Bazras help transporting people and their belongings from place to place. Even civil servants including teachers and development works widely use the services of these animals for pay. To this effect, there is a livestock package on developing the breads of Bazra.
In semi-highland, or WEYNA DEGA, and low land or KOLA areas, cattle raring including cows, goats and to some extent horses and beekeeping are worthy investment ventures for rural families of deceased. In almost all drought prone and degraded areas, cattle raring pay better than crop production as the Amhara Credit and Saving Institution (ACSI) experts revealed. Similar to Gondar town and the suburb, there is also a good potential for diary farming and cattle fattening in Gondar Zuria Woreda. Beneficiaries involved in this activity can feed their animals by products of Dashen Brewery and from oil and grain mill factories from Gondar town. Indeed, peasants are accustomed to grow grasses and a kind of pulse called Guaya for animal feeding. Thus, without affecting the environment for grazing, it is possible to engage animal husbandry in a productive manner.
Poultry does not demand huge investment and women and the elderly could easily handle it. The only thing is to acquire certain poultry management skills from agricultural experts or development workers of around their localities. Beneficiaries could find resources from their agricultural outputs or purchase maize and other crops from cheaper areas. In this connection, focus group discussion participants in Debre Tabor and Farta Woredas said that people around these areas purchase maize from Gojjam for their chicken at a relatively low price.
1.6.2. Income Generating Activities in Urban Areas
During the focus group discussions, development practitioners in government institutions and NGOs expressed the opinion that in and around urban areas (secondary towns), income generating schemes are commonly related to dairy farming, cattle fattening, poultry, sheep and goats raring, retail trading, butchery, butter trading, honey trading, housing for rent, grain trading, fruits and vegetables, tailor service, snacks, small scale restaurants, petty trading, embroidery, artesian, masonry, carpentry, wood work and other similar in house activities. These activities do not require huge initial investment and long years of experience or formal training.
The scale of operation depends on the prevailing skill of beneficiaries and the available start-up capital. However, each urban area has its own resource potential, market opportunities and geographic features, which tend to determine viable income generating activities. For instance, there are items, which might be considered worthless in certain localities, but valuable in others involving some transport costs. A typical example might be transportation of grass from around lake Tana to Gondar town. According to the Orthodox
- 55 - Church Development Organization, those people who are involved in transferring agricultural and industrial products from cheaper areas to expensive ones are found profitable. Cart becomes a very useful means of transportation and source of income in many towns of Amhara. Focus group participants from Lay Gaint divulged that with a total cost of around Birr 5000, cart owners nowadays earn a daily income of Birr 30.00 and above. It requires around 20 months to recover the initial outlay if an individual is able to put aside Birr 250 per month from his total monthly income.
For instance, urban centers like Bahir Dar, Gonder, Lalibela and similar other towns are areas of high tourist attractions. In these towns, local handicrafts, which allow featuring the cultural heritage of the country, have a good market potential. These include, wooden articles, leather products, bamboo and pottery products. It is also recommended that both the construction and service provision of small boats in the surrounding areas of Lake Tana and Hique (Hike) for transport and fish harvesting purposes would be a viable investment by privates or associations.
1.7. TRAINING NEEDS AND POTENTIALS
Many people are not able to identify and adequately exploit the available opportunities, which are not beyond their capabilities. People lack entrepreneurial behavior and activities are not very much geared towards markets. It requires initiating people to be visionary, develop their capabilities of examining wide ranges of activities, and exploit viable opportunities rather than being dependent on certain dormant activities they are accustomed for long. It was argued in many focus group discussions that it requires to brain wash the people to avoid unwise moves towards appropriating the benefit as if they would invest the resource in income generating activities but actually fail to do so. Training should go beyond equipping people with basic technical knowledge and focus as well on such issues as business planning, market searching, activity or product diversification, and quality improvement skills.
Even though, the training requirements of the respondent households of this particular study is low, a non- governmental organization called the Amhara Development Association (ADA) conducted an assessment through consultants on training needs in marketable basic skills. According to this study, substantial training needs were reported in the production of fruit and vegetables, animal husbandry, construction, maintenance and repair, waiter, wood and metal works, auto mechanic, business activities, office works etc. The study further revealed that people having basic skills in the areas of food and beverage preparations, auto- mechanics, electrician, radio and television repair, office and household furniture making, building and carpentry, masonry, brick making, artificial insemination, fishery, irrigation techniques, seedling raising and plantation have higher chance of employment in the region. Hlowever, traditional handicrafts like pottery, weaving, black smith and similar other activities lack incentives for training because of cultural barriers.
Satisfying the stated training requirements calls for having the necessary institutional infrastructure. As participants in different focal group discussions revealed training capacities and opportunities are very limited in the Amhara Region. Neither the population has adequate ability of financing their training requirements. However, for purposes of income generating activities for beneficiaries of families of deceased, exploiting existing opportunities will help going longer distance.
There were 107 community skill-training centers in the region, which were able to train only 5561 persons [BOEDaC, 1997]. The number of these centers has to grow considerably by now. There are local and international NGOs who provide training on their own ways and criteria for a certain segment of the population, which certainly include families of the deceased. In this regard, the contribution of the Amhara Development Association (ADA) is placed on the forefront. Other NGOs such as Save the Children UK, the Ethiopian Orthodox Church Development Department, ILDP, NORWAY Save the Children, and St. Paulo's Children Care Center also contributes to this effect. At the Woreda level, there are rural technology dissemination and animal husbandry sections under the department of agriculture. Schools at different levels and other similar institutions have also training provision potentials that could be exploited.
- 56 - Rational uses of the available opportunities and alternatives require an organized and integrated move of all concerned bodies and above all the regional committee for coordinating the ERP activity should study the appropriate modalities to this effect.
On the belief that the required finance is secured, most of the respondents estimated to require them 6-12 months (78.6%) to keep hold of a scale of operation where returning backwards is less likely. Only few of them (15.7%) reported that less than 6 months will be sufficient. However, there are constraints apparently observed in many cases, which might hinder not only new entrants in to the non-farm activities but also the well-established incumbents.
In the midst of a destitute life in the rural areas of the Amhara Regional state, having adequate market opportunities in the localities for income generating activities is usually difficult. In such circumstances, technical supports should be provided for beneficiaries on how they could organize themselves to establish market cooperatives. This will allow exporting their items from these remote localities to distant areas having better marketing opportunities. People engaged in micro and small-scale business ventures usually encounter many problems including poor availability of technical services, inadequate vocational training facilities, low level of education, limited exposure and weak entrepreneurial skills, lack of access to credit, information on markets and new and cheaper technologies and negative attitudes towards cooperatives. In particular, most of the beneficiaries have been engaging in conventional ways of living such as farming (in the case of rural areas) and homemaking (in the case of urban areas). Mainly because of lack of business orientations they usually face market problems reflected in terms of quality inferiority, failures to take account of seasonal demand and price variations. Dairy farming, sheep and goat raring activities are affected by animal diseases due to lack of health services in several places. In this regard, ACSI experts unveiled that some of their customers involved in cattle raring fail to pay their obligations on account of seasonal animal diseases. Transport facilities are not also developed to the level that allows exploiting the market opportunities away from their localities.
1.8. HIV/AIDS AWARENESS
The survey result shows that about 96% and 92% of rural and urban respondents of this particular study are aware of the prevalence of HIV/AIDS in rural and urban areas respectively while others have not either heard about the disease or known the extent of its menace. The situation is a little bit exaggerated in the case of rural areas. It is also indicated that about 62.5% of the respondents acknowledged that they have taken training on HIV/AIDS.
With the prime objective of initiating and coordinating the activities of all parties involved in social organizations in relation to HIV/AIDS, a secretariat office was established last year at the regional level in Bahir Dar town. Secretariats and different committees are formed at different levels. Anti-AIDS committees involving sector departments, NGOs, religious and other similar governmental and non-governmental representatives were formed at the zonal, Woreda, Kebele, school and institution levels. Indeed, the regional secretariat office established braches both at the zonal, Woreda and Kebele levels.
According to representatives of the secretariat from the region and other participants of the focused group discussions, people are becoming aware of HIV/AIDS and its transmission medias though it may not be the case in far distant rural areas. There are places such as Debre Tabor that AIDS victims from the town broke the stigma and teach people about the disease. Even AIDS victims from Addis Ababa occasionally come for the same purpose. In a focus group discussion held in Bati town, a consensus was reached among the people that traditional harmful practices such as wife sharing among brothers accentuate the transmission of the virus and they have to be prohibited by law. This explains the extent to which the society is committed to campaign against long-years of tradition owing to the disease.
- 57 - 2. DEPORTEES
2.1. DEMOGRAPHIC CHARACTERISTICS
The demographic characteristics of deportees show that in general they have few members as compared to the local residents (host community) as well as the national average. For example, the survey result shows that in Kombolcha where the second largest number of deportees live, only 8.8% have more than four members, 20% have four members, while 52% have only one member.
The number of female-headed households is also higher than the male-headed ones, the percentage being 55.4% and 46.6%, respectively. The age composition of deportees as generalized from the sample by Tsegaye (2001:18) is found to be 1.5% under the age of five, 32.5% eighteen to fifty five years, and 6.9% above fifty five years.
Age Composition Household Characteristics
30% M~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Female-headed Thisdeorpicsrcue fdpr600/ households Furthermore,35% am5%6 se og oe ta te e nf55%i Male-headed 10% 50% ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~households 0% <5 years 18-50 >55 years40 years -
This demographic structure of deportee households is attributed to the fact that, in many cases, the entire household was not evicted together and thus each family member might have been registered separately. Furthermore, since any on-going or expected assistance is based on official registration the family members remained, at least in registration files, separated and independent households, while in actual fact they may be living together.
There are also few incidents in which family members were registered separately for the purpose of obtaining more than their share during the disbursement of the first government support upon arrival in Ethiopia which was Birr 1,000 per single household head, Birr 1,500 for a couple and Birr 100 for each child.
Another feature of the current household structure is high rate of divorce and separation. Besides the separation during the process of deportation under adverse circumstances, the rate of separation and/or divorce is reported to be high among deportees. The phenomenon is attributed to adverse circumstance of a different kind. Many household heads are reported to have left for different places in search of employment, in most cases to Afar Region, leaving their family behind. This condition is thought to have resulted in the current unbalance between female headed and male headed households and the fact that the female population in general is higher than the male.
- 58 - 2.2 DEPORTATION AND LOSS OF PROPERTY
As per the various focus group discussions with the deportees, the travel from Eritrea (Assab) to where they finally arrived (various towns in Amhara) was arduous and formidable. It took more than a month on the average and many have died on the way because of fatigue, starvation or disease or a combination of all. According to one study report, 17% of the deportees reported that at least one member of their family was separated during the deportation process and of these about 34% did not still know the whereabouts of the missing family members(s).
It therefore goes without saying that these people were economically bankrupt, physically deteriorated and psychologically afflicted upon arrival in Ethiopia.
According to the survey, the all the deportees claimed that they lost their property in the form of either money, valuables, house furniture, clothes, houses (of residence or/and trade), established businesses and means of production.
The losses of houses, businesses and means of productions are captured in the out put table of questionnaire under the item column "others" and the percentage of respondents who so lost such properties amounts to 18.05% in the case of deportees in Amhara (see annex tables for details).
2.3 EDUCATIONAL STATUS OF DEPORTEES
Since the vast majority of the deportees were "economic migrants" who moved to Assab (then an important port city of Ethiopia), aspiring for economic success by engaging in all sorts of jobs or businesses, only few have higher level academic qualifications. The survey result shows that 15.8% of the deportees are found to be illiterate. The majority of individuals in this category are women who are often disadvantaged. The vast majority (51.30%) have primary education and those who got higher level education are 1.30%of the sample.
This fining shows a disparity with a study made for ZOA Refugee Care, which reported that 34% of the surveyed deportees were found to be illiterate and 22% have higher education. Although this disparity is highly exaggerated, it could be assumed that those who have better educational qualification might have either secured employment or might have left to other places (including the capital) looking for job at the time of our survey which took places after nearly 2 years. Given the fluid nature of the current life situation of deportees it is possible that there exists a perpetual movement and change of residence. This might be even more applicable to those who have the hope and potential for securing employment elsewhere.
2.4 CURRENT LIVELIHOOD SITUATION
The current livelihood situation of deportees is precarious and fragile. According to our survey result, 47.2% are daily labourers. Given the unreliability and unpredictability of daily labour, and the meagerness of the income obtained, it is hardly possible to consider this category of deportees as having adequate and consistent means of income.
Even among those who have been categorized as petty traders, some are cigarettes vendors, "Kolo " sellers and the like whose daily profit could not exceed two Birr on the average.
The result of the survey shows that 34% of respondents earn less than Birr 50.00 per month, 50% of them earn between Birr 51-120 and only 1.9% are reported to have a monthly average income of more than Birr 350.00 (annex tables for details).
- 59 - Given the sky-rocketed current living cost and the fact that these people have to pay for house rents and other expenditures out of this meager income, it would have been impossible to them to survive had it not been to the relief support they were getting.
According to the survey 81.00% of deportees in Amhara live in rented houses, 15.10% live with relatives, and 0.8% live in camps. Only 0.8% are reported to live in their own houses. Of those living in rented houses 91.10% pay less than Birr 50.00 per month for house rent. It should be noted here that it is not because house rent is cheap that these people pay this amount, but it is because they are living in "dungeons", as one FGD discussant in Dessie put it.
Indeed, it was disclosed during the focus group discussions that in most towns where large number of deportees live, house rent was dramatically increased by about 30-50% as a result of the high demand for houses.
A repot of a study done for Forum on Street Children Ethiopia (FSCE) stated that 10% of deportees have no shelter at all and live in the streets and church yards, while others live in poor quality houses in untidy corners of the towns (ELias 2001). This fact is also revealed in our survey result which showed that 2.40% live in "other" conditions which is the category that includes deportees who have no shelter at all.
As one study report stressed and as it was repeatedly raised in focus group discussions (FGDs) with deportees, inability to pay house rents at all or failure to pay timely on the part of deportees, is usually the cause of conflicts between deportees and the host community, especially house renters. It is thus considered as one of the drawbacks that worked against the social reintegration of the deportees with the host communities.
It was reported in one of the focus group discussions that many deportees have left for the low lands of Afar not only for the reason of looking for job opportunities, but also due to the fact that the hot climate is more friendly to poor people as they are to worry neither about heavy clothes (blankets) for the night's wear, jackets (pullovers) for the day's wear nor about houses (shelters) to pass the night in.
2.5 FOOD ASSISTANCE
Food assistance to deportees has been on and off for about two years till ZOA refugee Care started to distribute food on a monthly basis since June 2001 and continued to do so for a little more than a year. ZOA started its intervention in response to the result of an assessment on the nutritional status of deportees conducted in September 2000. The result of this study showed that there existed a serious malnourishment among both adult and child deportees. The report thus concluded recommending immediate provision of food ration as well as free and adequate medical service among other things.
ZOA again conducted a study on the same issue, this time, a sort of impact assessment, only after five months of the intervention, October 2001. The result was claimed to have revealed that the over all situation of nutritional status of the beneficiaries has significantly improved, that death rate has reduced by 33% and household income has raised, as a result of the intervention. Consequently, it was recommended that free distribution of food should discontinue except to the aged and the disabled while the rest should be embraced in an EGS (FFW) program and eventual sustainable rehabilitation.
Accordingly, ZOA stopped its food assistance as of July 2001 as per the recommendation, although it did not give equal weight to other aspects of the recommendation i.e. the shift to EGS and rehabilitation. As a result, deportees stayed for more than four months without either receiving food assistance or being given the opportunity of involving in EGS (FFW). Besides, the reason for the discontinuity of the food assistance was not made clear to them and the information gap made the deportees to conjure up all sorts of imaginary causes for the discontinuation of the assistance.
- 60 - It was only at the last week of December, during which tinie this study was going on that they got food assistance again. This time it was from South Wollo DPPD and was only 12.5Kg of wheat without the extra items that ZOA's assistance consisted of. 3 This aid by DPPD was not only insufficient but also did not seem to last long. Indeed even personnel of Dessie DPPD did not seem to know how long the assistance would last. In general the food aid had been intermittent except the 13 consecutive months of ZOA's intervention and often than not the grain was of bad quality. On the whole, the food assistance. At present is neither adequate nor reliable and thus, the situation calls for immediate and appropriate measures.
The food assistance provided to these deportees so far has been sporadic and inconsistent. The duration of the assistance ranged from 3 to 12 months though not all deportees were addressed. Most significant food assistance provided, both in terms of duration and number of beneficiaries was that of ZOA Refugee Care which lasted for 13 consecutive months (from June 2000 to July 2001) and from which 7909 deportees benefited. ZOA's assistance program consisted of 15 kgs of wheat/corn, 0.6 kgs of oil and 1.5 kgs of lentil per person/month.
The outcome of our study showed that these people need food assistance before and during the rehabilitation process including the training time. In focus group discussions with representatives of relevant government line departments, NGOs and target groups (deportees) it was reported that one important factor that greatly contributed to the not very successful attempt of rehabilitating about 500 deportees in Desie and Haik towns by some NGOs was disregard to the necessity of a certain grace period during which time beneficiaries could be provided with food assistance lest they consume part of their capital. The study therefore indicates that the deportees need food assistance until the IGS the deportees would involve in become dependably profitable.
Rationale for the Suggested Duration of the Food Assistance
The suggested duration of the food assistance is 12 months. Reasons for arriving at this conclusion include:
The output of the questionnaire survey which shows that the majority of respondents (abou 60%) reported that it will take them one year to be fully self reliant. The assumption that during the last several months after the food assistance discontinued, they might have been borrowing money and food items from friends and relatives and might have been indebted. Hence, besides the required food consumption, they would also be obliged to pay back their debts and this might adversely affect their eventual rehabilitation. The recognition that the deportees, at least the majority of them, are going to involve in new type of business after staying jobless or having been engaged in quite different activities and the transition may take some time before they fully master the new activity and establish themselves. The assumption that their new business engagement necessarily involves competition with people already in the business and better established, requiring considerable " learning period". 25% of the deportees (3,718) are children and pregnant and/or lactating mothers that need supplementary food assistance.
It is therefore believed that a 12 months grace period will highly contribute to the success of the rehabilitation effort and the achievement of the sought objective; the eventual self-reliance of the target groups.
The food assistance requirement is estimated using the WFP standard of the quantity and variety of food intake required for a healthy and productive life of an individual person
3ZOA used to distribute 15Kg. of wheat/corn, 0.6 Kg. of oil and 1.5 Kg. of lentilperperson per month.
- 61 - Table 9: Estimated Food Assistance Requirement
Food items Quantity Total No. of No. of Duration of Total amount required person/month Deportees children and the in quintal in kg mothers assistance in months Sorghum/wheat 15 14,879 _ 12 26,782.20 Oil 0.75 14,879 12 1,339.11 FAMIX 2.00 3,718 12 892.32
2.6 ACCESS TO SOCIAL SERVICES
2.6.1. Potable water
Individual interviewees and discussants of FGDs confirmed that though they could not afford to rent houses with piped water facilities, they normally buy buckets of water for domestic consumption, except laundering, either from public water stands or from individuals (including their land lords/ladies) who own tapped water points. This is what our statistical survey result confirmed since it showed that 78.6% of respondents reported to get water from water taps owned by individuals, while 14.3% and 2.4% reported that they get water from public water stands and protected well respectively (see annex tables for details).
2.6.2. Education
Regarding access to formal education of school-age children of deportees the survey shows that 65.5% are reported to attend schools at various levels. It is assumed that targeted intervention of NGOs such as FSCE which focuses on provision of school materials and uniforms for deportee children might have contributed positively to the percentage of enrollment.
Accordingly to FGD participants, all government schools were cooperative with regard to enrollment of deportees' children. It was pointed out that deportees' children were admitted to classes even without the formal requirements of producing legal certificates from the previous schools since, in most cases, the ) deportation process didn't allow to go through such formal procedures. Instead the schools made deportee students above the level of first grade to sit for entrance exams equivalent to the students' claimed grades.
2.6.3. Health
Respondents reported that in the first few months of deportation the morbidity and mortality rates of deportees, especially children was high. The situation started to change to the better when government health institutions started to provide medical assistance free of charge to deportees.
Even after this, deportees faced problems since they could not afford to buy prescribed drugs not available in the pharmacies of the government health institutions. This problem was solved by the intervention of ZOA Refugee Care, which started covering all medical expenses for deportees since June 2000.
Consequently, the percentage of deportees visiting "modern" health institutions raised to 96.8%. The rest 3.2% do not go to clinics or hospitals not because of money constraints but due to individual beliefs and/or attitudes, religious or otherwise. (see annex tables for details).
- 62 - 2.6.4. Needs and Priorities
Only insignificant (negligible) number of deportees show interest to involve in any income generation activity related to agriculture. This might be attributed to the fact that almost all deportees are accustomed to urban life, at least after their migration to Assab.
Since the choice of IGS has to be seen from the perspective of the skill, knowledge and experience of the individual deportee on the one hand and the availability of resources and market potential on the other, the fact that agriculture-related IGS is not preferred by deportees in Amhara seems justifiable. Moreover, IGS related to dairy farming, cattle fattening, sheep rearing and poultry require at least a place where the animal can wait even if cut and carry (indoor feeding) system might be applied. Unlike families of deceased who show real interest to involve in such activities, deportees do not even think of them since they do not have a place for themselves leave alone for cattle. It is impossible to acquire land for the purpose at individual level. On the other hand, deportees are absolutely repulsive to the idea of cooperatives any form of collective ownership.
Therefore, the requirement of deportees which is initial capital for starting petty trades and service giving activities deserves due attention. The vast majority prefers to be involved in petty trade, and urban based service-giving activities. There was however an unanimous opposition to any rehabilitation strategy based on any sort of cooperatives or group IGS. The reason for their resentment of group IGS seems two fold. First people did not yet get over with the memory of the forced collectivization attempts of the Derg and the unpleasant consequences thereof. Second, the not very successful attempt of two local NGOs, AARRDP and DSCP, to rehabilitate 500 deportees by organizing them in to cooperatives is a current phenomenon that could be cited as evidence for the dismal consequences of group IGSs.
2.6.5. HIV/AIDS
Deportees, are at higher risk of HIV/AIDS Efforts are being made by governmental and non-governmental organizations to raise the awareness level of the community about HIV/AIDS. With the objective of coordinating the activities of all organizations involved in social organizations in relation to HIV/AIDS, a secretariat office was established last year at the regional level in Bahir Dar town with offices in other towns in the region Anti-AIDS committees involving sector departments, NGOs, religious and other similar governmental and non-governmental representatives were formed at the zonal, Woreda, Kebele, school and institution levels.
According to the survey results, almost all the sample deportees (97%) have the knowledge of HIV/AIDS. The sources of information include meetings (37%), radio (45%) and from friends.
3. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
In Amhara, families of deceased and deportees are the targets of the ERP. For this purpose, EPRMU branch office in Bahir Dar and sub-offices in other towns have been established. The ERP has already disbursed the assistance to most of the families of deceased but the deportees are still waiting for the assistance.
The survey results show that on average, about 50% of the deceased have only one single beneficiary household, and about 35% of the deceased have two beneficiary households (spouse and parent headed households). The remaining 15% of them have more than two household beneficiaries. The major beneficiaries of the deceased are spouses with the children, if any, and parents.
It was learnt that both urban and rural families of deceased in the region wish to involve in off-farm activities for diversifying their income sources and improving their food security situation. Among the off-farm activities, petty trading has become the most preferred area. The prime reason for the selection of this
- 63 - activity is that it does not require special skills and has been practiced by many people as a source of additional income. About 56% of the respondents believe that they can generate income from petty trading within 7-12 months and support themselves.
During the focus group discussions in Amhara reigion, the deportees expressed that they feel neglected and abandoned. Some NGOs and WFP have provided food assistance to some of the deportees but mainly only for 3-6 months. Most of the deportees are now in conditions of dependency. The needs assessment indicates that the deportees are more interested in IGS activities. Among the various IGS, petty trading has been considered as the major choice of the beneficiaries.
Based on the findings of the baseline survey, the following recommendations are made: * The beneficiaries, particularly deportees and urban IDPs and families of deceased have expressed their wish to involve in income generating schemes. Petty trading has become the most preferred activity by almost all categories of beneficiaries. However, the strategy should be based on business plan as indicated in the strategy for deportees for details. * The rehabilitation of deportees is an immediate and critical issue. Therefore, based on the proposed rehabilitation strategy of the deportees, which is presented in this report, the rehabilitation process should take place as soon as possible. It is also worth noting that some of the elements of the rehabilitation strategy of deportees could be applicable to the urban families of deceased. * Food assistance should be considered as one of the elements of the rehabilitaion strategy. Because, there is a possibility that the beneficiaries will us the rehabilitation benefits for immediate food requirement. Furthermore, the participation of the deportees (deportee committees) in the process of needs assessment and prioritization needs to be encouraged.
- 64 - CHAPTER THREE: AFAR REGIONAL STATE
REGIONAL PROFILE and extends to The Afar Region in the north and north east of Ethiopia is located in the greatest rift valley centers. The Eritrea and Djibouti. The region has five administrative zones and 29 woredas and 28 urban association region is further organized into 32 Kebeles (i.e. Urban Dwellers Association) and 323 farmers clan and /or tribe. (Rural Kebeles). Rural household settlement pattern of the Afar is mainly structured along The local Settlement points are usually preferred in areas of abundant grazing and water resources. territory community lives in a cluster of 8 to 10 hats in one place and in large settlements. Each tribal community contains segments froimn a large number of clans (Mllela). The clan is subdivided into local (Burra). (Kidoh), and the next lower level is the extended family (Dahla), followed by the household of which are The population of the Afar Regional state is estimated at about 1.7 million people, 90% agro-pastoralists pastoralists and 10% agro-pastoralists. Pastoralists entirely depend on livestock, while population is 116 practices some cultivatin in additional to livestock husbandry. The estimated livestock herded by younger million Tropical Livestock Unit (TLU) comprising a mixture of cattle, camels (usually Region as other men), sheep, goats and lactating cows (usually herded by women, girls and boys). Afar by unpredictable and pastoral/agro-pastoral areas in the country and other African regions is characterized is between 200 - 600 unstable climatic condition as well as ecologically fragile environment Annual rainfall 100 - 1000 masl. mm with mean daily temperature of 30 - 50 degree centigrade at an altitude of between of livelihood. Trade Apart from animal husbandry and limited cropping, trade is the next important means of animal power comprises marketilg of livestock by products, salt production and marketing, renting have economic (notably camel) and marketing of traditional crafts. Among the traditional crafts, which palm tree, carpet and importance, are blacksmith, leather work, household utensils made of wood, grass and which are rope making. Some of the products that are produced by black smith are Gille and Debra leather cases and traditional weapons ( similar to dagger and spear), spade and axe. Various types of and Grain (Graib) are containers to hold Gille and to contain milk (Kodaca), water (Saar), butter (Okassa), produced and marketed by the Afars. bordering E-ritrea were Due to the Ethio-Eritrean border conflict, pastoralists and agro-pastoralists in woredas and belongings. The displaced and lost the agricultural production, livestock. sources of livelihood, homes land. However, livelihood of the pastoralists is based on movement of animals in search of water and grazing and that due to the border conflict and the landmine concerns, their movements have been restricted has also been shortages of water and grazing have become serious in the region. Livestock marketing constrained by the border conflict. household The Regional ESRDF Office in Assaita serves as a PMU for the implementation of the was made to rehabilitation sub-component. Unlike in Amhara and Tigray Regions, no disbursement had conducted a beneficiaries in Afar until the undertaking of this survey. In June 2001, ESRDF-Afar Office rapid assessment of the status of urban IDPs and deportees in 20 towns of the region.
- 65 - 1. INTERNALLY DISPLACED PEOPLE (IDPS)
1.1. BACKGROUND
Internally Displaced People (IDPs) in Afar are the pastoralists and those who used to live in rural centers (small towns) in the region. The total number of IDPs in the resgion is estimated at about 3,100 households of which 408 are urban. It was learnt during the field visit that almost all pastoralists who reside in the woredas bordering Eritrea have practically been displaced. During the conflict, they lost their livestock, houses and other properties. Most importantly, they have lost the tradition of movement from one locality to the other in search of water and grazing.
1.2. SOCIO-DEMIOGRAPHIC CHARACTERISTICS
The sex distribution of IDP household members shows that 52% are male and 48% are females. The age group of the majority (62%) of the household heads are above 30 years old. While 37.8% and 39% were of the age group between 16-30 and 5-15 years old, respectively. The marital status of the rural IDPs is not very different from the urban IDPs. In rural areas, about 95.4% of the respondents reported that they were married, while in urban areas, the finding indicates that --% of the respondents are married. The rate of divorce is very low in the Afar Region due to the cultural and religious factors.
The educational status of the pastoralists has not been encouraging even before displacement. The finding of the survey shows that 83% of the pastoral IDPs (household members) have reported to be illiterate, while only 15% have primary education. The situation is better with urban IDPs where 40% of the households members have primary education. This indicates that there are school aged children who are not going to school for various reasons - children are herders in pastoral production system and unless a special mobile education system is introduced, there problem will remain pervasive.
1.3. ACTIVITIES OF IDPS
Rural IDPs in Afar are mainly pastoralists whose livelihood depends on livestock production as well as some cultivation, while the urban IDPs are engaged in non-farm activities. The survey result shows that 47% of the urban and 72% the rural IDPs did not have any jobs even before they were displaced. There is also a substantial decrease of activities in both urban and rural areas as a result of the displacement. The survey finding indicates that mixed farming (livestock and crop) decreased from about 11% to 8%, livestock from about 22% to 13%, while petty trade from decreased from about 4.5% to 1.0%.
Table 1. Activities of Pastoralists before and after Displacement (N= 202)
Activity % of Pastoralists Involved Before displacement After Displacement Livestock and crop 10.9 7.9 Livestock husbandry 21.8 13.5 Livestock and petty trade 4.5 1.0 Housewife 15.8 15.8 Nojob 47 61.8 Totals 100 100
- 66 - In urban areas, most of the respondents reported that they did not have jobs before and after the displacement. As indicated in the table 3.2 below, the number of those urban IDPs who were involved in petty trade (20.3%) has decreased to 11 % and as a result the number of the jobless has increased (79%).
However, this survey result should be interpreted carefully since the respondents tended to report that they do not have means of survival and they needed assistance.
The urban IDPs in Zone One of Afar Region are from Bure town. The displaced people moved to Manda and Dubti towns during the conflict. Some of the IDPs were shopkeepers and small restaurant owners who are mostly non-Afars. In general, the Afars live within the area where livelihood depends on livestock production, livestock trading and transporting merchandise from the port to the inner cotntry by camel.
Table 2. Activities of Urban IDPs Before and After Displacement
Activity Before Displacement After Displacement None 71.9 79.3 Daily laborer 0.5 Petty trade 0.3 10.9 Housewife 5.2 8.8 Maid 0.5 0.5 Other 1.6 0.5 Totals 100 100
1.4. DISPLACEMENT AND PROPERTY LOSS
The conflict and the resulting displacement have different impacts on the urban and pastoral IDPs. The urban IDPs who were traders and shop keepers have lost their shops and goods when displace. These IDPs were able to re-establish their business after the aversion of the occupation.
On the other hand, the displaced pastoral IDPs from and around Bure town who mainly used to depend on livestock production, livestock trading and transporting merchandise from Assab port were and are still the most war-affected group. Their livestock were raided; they lost their permanent water sources and the foothills grazing areas located both in Ethiopia and Eritrea, which are vital during the dry season to maintain their livestock until the next rain season. The rainy season is the time when pastoralists intensify their movement while during the dry season they limit their movement in water bank areas, which they apparently lost during the war.
The pastoral IDPs have moved from war affected woredas to other woredas and/or to different kebeles within the same woredas which are relatively free of landmines. According to the regional bureau of agriculture, currently, there are a total of 33,301 IDPs (about 3,000Hs) in the region. Some of them were displaced from Bure to Elidar and Logia, while those who used to live in Dalul, Erepti and Afdera moved within the same woredas but different kebeles of the respective woredas shich are relatively free of landmines. Due to the loss of the dry season grazing areas, their seasonal migration pattern and stocking and de-stocking pattern have been disturbed. During discussions in Bure town, the 'urban' displaced group said they are now left without cattle and they are only able to keep goats and camels that are more resistance to water shortage. The presence of the army in the area was also affecting their production system. They also indicated that the system of selling livestock when there is rain and keeping only restocking herd at the dry season grazing area is disturbed as a result of losing the grazing and water points.
Both urban and pastoral IDPs have lost their property during displacement. According to the survey results, out of 102 respondents 67% of them reported that they lost property of value Birr 2000 and above. Livestock loss is the highest in the list of property lost (43%) followed by loss of household utensils (32.4% of all the
- 67 - property loss). The loss of cattle (cows) among their herds has deprived them of having milk, their major source of nutrition. This situation is intensified with the people (IDPs) living in the 'town' proper where there is high demand for water. Women pointed out the problem they are facing in building the traditional home, due to the palm trees. The details are provided in the annex volume of this report under the Afar chapter.
1.5. LIVESTOCK HOLDING
Due to the conflict, the herd size per household has been affected. The herd sizes of sample households before and after displacement are provided in table 3 below. As indicated in the table, the herd sizes of almost all livestock species have declined as a result of the losses of animals during the conflict, especially camels and oxen. For instance, 70.7% of the households used to own 3 and more camels before the conflict. However, after the conflict, only 13% of the households own this herd size. According to the survey results, most of the households remained with I ox and I camel which is below the livestock holding before the conflict. Similarly, the percentages of households owning large herd sizes has reduced in all species as indicated in the table.
Since they are also forced to keep a smaller number of herds, their income from sales of livestock and their purchasing ability of the necessity goods (grain, edible oil etc.) have decreased. This situation is causing pressure on Afar women who are responsible for building and maintaining the family.
Table 3. Percentages of Sample Households Owning Livestock Before and After Displacement
Livestock Species Herd size (heads) Percentage of Households Owning Livestock ______Before A fter Camels 1 12.2 78.30 2 17.10 8.7 3 and above 70.7 13.0 Totals 100 100 Oxen 1 20 90.9 2 15 9.1 3 and above 65 Totals 100 100 Cows 1 3 64.7 2 3 17.6 3 and above 94 35.2 Totals 100 100 Sheep 1 50 2 8 10 3 and above 92 40 Totals 100 100 Goats 1 43.5 2 - 2.6 4.3 3 and above 97.5 52.2 Totals 100 100 Pack animals 1 23.50 90 ______2 29.4 10 ______3 and above 47 Totals 100 100
- 68 - Estimates of Livestock Holding:
From the sample household survey results of table 3 above, the number of livestock owned by the total ID households in Afar (3,100 households) is estimated in Table 4 below. According to the technical annex of the agreement between the IDA and the Ethiopian government, the benefit package related to livestock is an ox, a heifer, 3 small ruminants per household. The estimate in Table 4 shows the additional stocks that will be acquired through the ERP support. It is evident from the table that the households have lost significant number of their livestock of all species and restocking is required to sustain their livelihoods and restocking of animals for those households who lost due to the conflict will not result in over stocking and adverse environmental impact. Although a detail study on stocking rates and land carrying capacity in Afar is required, it is envisaged that additional stocks of the ERP support will not result in overstocking. Moreover, purchases of livestock for restocking will be made locally and negative environmental impact is not expected. However, it should be noted that if the ID pastoral households that are concentrating in relatively free of landmine areas do not return to their origin and continue sharing the grazing reserves and water points, there will be a potential negative environmental impacts as a result of overstocking in the existing areas.
Table 4: Number of Livestock before and after conflict
Camels OXEN Cows Sheep Goats Pack animals Before 12,396 11,625 14,849 14,756 15,274 9,836 After 4,981 3,354 8,552 8,370 9,706 3,410 differences 7,415 8,271 6,297 6,386 5,568 6,426
ERP - 3,100 3,100 6,200 3,100
1.6. LANDMINES
The woredas and kebeles bordering Eritrea are assumed to be landmine infested areas. The focus group discussions with various stakeholders in Afar Region revealed that the movement of livestock is restricted due to landmine fear. According to the results of the survey, the kebeles where 98% of the respondents lived were occupied by Eritrean troops. About 60% of the respondents reported that there have been landmine incidences in their woredas/kebeles. Some of them witnessed 1-5 people killed by landmines and up to 7 people injured. A large majority (73%) of the respondents expressed the opinion that the existence of landmine in the woredas has been the concern of the community and has hindered the use the rangelands for their livestock grazing. House damage coupled with landmine have been the reasons for not returning to their origins, especially for the urban IDPs.
It was learnt during the survey that no full-scale de-mining activities have started except those done by the army to free major highways and some farmlands and grazing areas. People have not yet returned to areas. The effort of Rehabilitation and Development Organization (RADO) towards creating awareness about landmines and the counseling provided to landmine victims is encouraging. The organization is conducting landmine awareness creation programs in schools, and also by organizing a listening group in kebeles. About 70% of the respondents reported that they had awareness training on landmine.
- 69 - 1.7. FOOD ASSISTANCE
Even before the conflict, Afar Region is one of the food insecure areas of the country. Food security in the region mainly depends on livestock which is a risky and not dependable economy due to recurrent drought in the region. According to the survey, only 31% of the pastoral IDPs have received food assistance, while the majority (69%) of them have not received at all. Of those who received food assistance, 50% of them reported that they were assisted for 6 months and above, while 43% of them had the assistance for 1-3 months. The situation of food assistance is better in urban areas than rural areas mainly due to accessibility. To this effect, 46% of the urban IDPs declared that they had food assistance from DPPB and WFP. About 75% of the urban IDPs reportd that they received food assistance for 6 months and above, while 18% of them received for 1-3 months only.
In Afar, there are 3,100 ID households, mainly rural. The average household size (as indicated by the regional ESRDF) is estimated at seven persons. Therefore, according to the Bureau of Agriculture of the region, the total number of IDPs estimated at 33,301. The region claims that food assistance will be required for the total number of IDPs for one year. To this effect, food assistance requirement is estimated using the WFP standard.
Table 5: Estimated Food Assistance Requirement
Quantity Total No. No. of Duration of Total Food items person/month of IDPs children the amount in required in kg mothers assistance in quintal months Sorghum/wheat 15 33,301 12 59,941 Oil 0.75 33,301 12 2,997 FAMIX 2.00 8,325 12 1,998
* Assumptions: o Food assistance is required for one year. o 25% of the IDPs are children under five years old and pregnant and/or lactating mothers (8,325) need supplementary food assistance.
1.8. ACCESS TO SOCIAL SERVICES
Access to social services is one of the problems in the Afar Region even before the border conflict with Eritrea. Social services are among the poorest in the country. Schools, health facilities and potable water are not easily accessed. The survey result shows that currently, 47% of the respondents (rural IDPs) use unprotected water well, while others use rain-water and other unprotected water points. According to the 1994 census, only 3.2% of the population has access to piped water. It was learnt during the survey period and from the literature that water-born diseases are among the common concerns in the region.
Rural Urban
others Pipe Ppe 22% Unprotect 6DXO 6% edWell Ponds 48% 13% Prte l
17% 880/a
- 70 - Regarding education, 60% of the pastoral IDPs reported that their children do not go to school due the fact that schools are not accessible, children herd animals and they cannot support the education of the children (clothing, stationery, etc.). The 1994 national census suggests that only 7% of the population is literate, but this figure should be higher since some improvements have been made in the education sector. As one of the emerging regions, access to health is very limited in the region. About 54% of the IDPs reported that they go to health facilities when the family members are sick. The remaining 46% prefer to visit the traditional healer since it is cheaper and they believe that they can easily be cured.
1.9. MAJOR PROBLEMS, NEEDS AND PRIORITIES
An attempt was made to prioritize the major problems of pastoral and urban IDPs. The survey findings indicate that 70% of the pastoral IDPs declared that food shortage is the major problem which is consistent with the above finding related to food assistance. The next major problem of the pastoral IDPs were found to be lack ofjob opportunities and shelter both. The problems of the urban IDPs reported are lack ofjob opportunities, lack of shelter, lack of food and other public service with a percentage.
The survey indicates that the rural IDPs priority is petty trade. About 56% of the respondents declared petty trading as a top priority followed by 26% of them who prefer mixed farming (livestock and crop) and 18% livestock production only. Urban IDPs first choice was also similar to the rural IDPs - petty trading is a priority. In addition to petty trading, finding a house and ajob have been the second choices for 44% of the respondents. As expressed by the respondents, the choice of petty trading as a priority is mainly due to previous experience of respondents and the assumption that there will be market for the business.
The presence of the Ethiopian army in the area has contributed to the demand for goods produced in small towns of Afar. There seems to be also some expansion of the town and more movement of young girls both deportees and from the neighboring regions in the highlands due to the increased opportunity of employment in the newly emerging bars and other business activities.
1.11. HIV/AIDS
HIV/AIDs is a concern in Afar where the military has settled. As the result of the military settlement, the number of bars and commercial sex workers has increased in the region. Generally speaking, most of the urban IDPs and pastoral IDPs are aware of the HIV/AIDS. About 87% of the pastoral IDPs declared that they are aware of the epidemics and have gone to consultation meetings. In urban areas almost all respondents claimed that they know about HIV/AIDS and had consultation by various organizations.
The sources of information about HIV/AIDS were reported to be various. About 60% and 65% of the urban and pastoral IDPs, respectively learnt about the epidemics at community and kebele/clan meetings, 34% of the urban and 43% of the pastoral IDPs have learnt through radio. It is interesting to learn here that quite a large proportion of pastoralist are using radio which is encouraging for future development efforts in the region. The detailed information about HIV/AIDS is given in the annex volume.
- 71 - 2. FAMILIES OF THE DECEASED
2.1. BACKGROUND
It was reported at the time of the survey that the number of families of deceased in Afar Region is estimated at about 1,566 households. The benefit packages have not yet been disbursed in the region. In Assaita, in discussions that involved Woreda administration representatives, elders, clan leaders and families of deceased, the latter expressed their discontent about the situation. The various community members reported that the families of deceased were informed about the deaths of their breadwinners and also the benefit packages they will be receiving. However, the implementation has lagged behind. According to the ERPMU, the implementation has delayed due to the remoteness and inaccessibility of the areas, certain cultural problems and shortage of manpower.
As stated under the methodology, the sample size of the families of deceased in Afar Region is not large due to the mobility of the respondents - 15 and 9 rural and urban families of deceased, respectively. However, it can be noted that the situation of IDPs and families of deceased in Afar-Region are similar in many ways - livelihood system, access to social services, needs and priorities and that most of the findings of the IDPs could be applicable to families of deceased. The major findings of the families of deceased are presented in this report, while the details are given in the annex volume of the report.
2.2. SOCIO-ECONOMIC CHARACTERISTICS
According to the survey results, 93.3% of the rural deceased are in the age group of between 20-30 years, while 55.% of the urban families of deceased are in this age group. It was also observed that 44.4% of the urban families of deceased are above the age of 30 years.
Table 1: Distribution of age and Marital Status of Rural and Urban Deceased
Age Category Rural % Urban % Marital Rural % Urban %
______S tatu s______< 20 years 6.7 -- Married 7.1 55.6 20-30 years 93.3 55.6 Unmarried 85.7 33.3 Above 30 years --- 44.4 Divorced 7.1 11
The age and the marital status of the deceased have direct correlations. In urban areas where 44.4% are above 30 years, 55.6% of them were married and 33% unmarried. In rural areas, 87% of the deceased were unmarried which is justified by the age group as well - majority are between 20 - 30 years. Divorce rate is not very high in both rural and urban areas.
According to the survey, 59.7% of the rural deceased have only one household beneficiary and the remaining have two household beneficiaries. About 55.% of the urban deceased have on average one household beneficiary, while the remaining have two. Regarding the relationship of the beneficiaries to the deceased, 44.6% of the rural families of deceased beneficiaries are sisters and brothers followed by parents (23%). In urban areas, 7% of the beneficiaries 15% of the beneficiaries are spouses and children, while the main beneficiaries are found to be brothers and sisters (26.7%) and parents (46.7%).
The sex distribution of beneficiaries in Afar Region shows that in the rural areas 57.1% are male and 42.9% are female, while in urban 46.7% are male and 53.3% are female. It was observed that 91% of the rural families of deceased beneficiaries are illiterate. This situation is better with urban families of deceased where about 47% of them at least read and write and some have primary education.
- 72 - 2.3. NEEDS AND PRIORITIES
The families of deceased were asked to prioritize their felt needs in the short term. Accordingly, 50% of the rural families of deceased consider that getting food is a priority, followed by finding a job and purchases of livestock. The situation is more or less similar in the case of urban families of deceased as indicated in the table below.
Table 2: Major Needs of Rural and Urban families of deceased
Rank Rural Urban % Ist Get food 50 Get food 50 2nd Find job 33 Buy livestock 50 3r Buy livestock 30 Start business 50
The future plans of the families of deceased to involve in productive activities were discussed during the focus group discussions and also in the structured interviews. Accordingly, 41.8% of the urban families of deceased expressed the opinion to involve in farming, while 50% of them wish to engage in petty trading. The major reason for selecting such activities, according to the finding, is that the respondents have the experience and believe that they could generate income in these type of activities.
2.4. HIV/AIDS
The respondent in the rural areas confirmed that 93.3% have heard about HIV/AIDS and in urban areas 88.9% have heard about the epidemics. Meetings and radios are the major sources of information about the disease. To this effect, 61.5% of the rural families of deceased declared that they have heard of the HIV/AIDS in meetings, while 23% of them learnt through the radio.
In urban areas, 88.9% of the respondents have received counseling on HIV/AIDS, while in the rural sector 64.3% have training and 35.7% did not get counseling services. The majority of the respondents believe that uncontrolled sexual relation is the major mean of HlV/AIDS. The knowledge on preventive mechanisms for urban areas are thought to be no premarital sex (43.7%) and one to one (31.25%). Details are provided in annex tables.
- 73 - 3. DEPORTEES
3.1. BACKGROUND
According to the initial assessment of the Afar Regional ESRDF, the total number of deportees is estimated at 1,774 people. Most of the deportees residing in Afar Regional state used to live in Bure and Assab towns before the conflict. Bure town was the major war zone and the town has been totally abandoned and the dwellers displaced and property damage was reported. The area bordering Eritrea is heavily mined and as a result there are still some incidents where livestock and people are victims.
The Bure town is now re-established with temporary accommodations (corrugated iron sheet wall and roof houses). The town's proximity to the boarder where military bases are still functioning has made it an insecure area. Moreover, discontinuity of the use of Assab port has left both Bure and Manda towns without their usual trading activities. The presence of the Ethiopian army is the only thing that sustains the town. Almost all the internally displaced people (333 out of 342) are from Bure town (ESRDF report).
The Tendaho large-scale cotton plantation and its location on the Assab -Addis Ababa route has contributed for Dubti to be the center of employment and trade. While Dubti town (woreda capital) is located off the road of Assab, the job opportunity in the cotton plantation has made it a well-established town as compared to other towns in the region.
Logia town being close to the new regional capital (Samara Town) is getting the advantage of the city's construction. For this reason, 435 out of 475 deportees of the woreda are living in this town. The deportees here enjoy a better opportunity of employment in the construction sites, trading and restaurant work.
The categorization of internally displaced people from Bure town as 'urban' did not exactly fit the situation of the town livelihood where there are only few shop keepers and small restaurant owners, while the majority of the people of the town are pastoralists.
3.2 DEPORTATION
There are two types of deportees - the Afars and non-Afars, especially from bordering regions of Amhara and Tigray. These deportees have also faced with different types of problems at the time of deportation and at their present situation. When deported, they also lost their properties including cash, furniture, clothes and other household utensils. To this effect, 32% of them declared that they lost household furniture and 22% have lost clothes. The details are given in the annex volume of this report. During deportation, the Afars were not allowed to leave Eritrea. One deportee said "even a child who has one of his parents an Afar was not allowed to leave". This situation forced the Afars to return to their country crossing unofficial entry points, thus missing registration by the International Committee for Red Cross (ICRC) and government authorities. This situation has resulted in loses of initial identification and the immediate integration of the Afars into their respective clans and they have been deprived from the 1000 Birr entitlement for the deportees. The immediate integration is still creating difficulties in tracing Afar deportees that have spread throughout the area and are constantly moving.
On the other hand, deportees that were not originally from Afar were forced to leave Eritrea. They were handed over to the ICRC or have walked in groups to Ethiopia and reported to government authorities. This formal deportation and entry have helped the deportees to get assistance and recognition as deportees.
3.3. SOCIAL INTEGRATION OF THE DEPORTEES
The social integration of the deportees depend on being an Afar or not. The Afars are able to integrate immediately unlike those deportees from other regions whose lives have been discontinued from their origin except some family ties. The integration of the deportees as observed by the survey team indicates that the
- 74 - level of integration depends on the resource base of the deportees. Those deportees who had high level of income (in the case of few Afars who had some money) are able to start re-establishing themselves by getting involved in some trade activities. But those who did not have neither the capital nor any skill are still marginalized with high dependency on external assistance.
These are deportees whose origin is mostly Amhara and Tigray. These non-Afar deportees are moving around to other parts of the country looking for places to settle and employment opportunities. Generally, this uncertainty of settlement has put them under the pressure of displacement and frustration while the Afar deportees automatically settled and they are on the process of re-establishing themselves.
In the case of housing, while the Afars were able to live in their traditional housing that they are able to build, the non-Afar deportees have to compete for the few houses in the towns. As indicated in the table below, most of the deportees (69.7%) live in rented houses and others live with relatives and in camps. The majority of them (45% of those who live in rented houses) pay a monthly house rent of Birr 50-100 which is high in the Afar Region standard where houses are not as expensive as in other towns of the country. This could however partly be explained by the fact that more deportees are competing for the few houses available.
Table 1: Housing Situation
Housing No. of respondents % Rented house 62 69.7 Own 8 9 With relatives 11 12.4 Camp I 1.1 Others 7 7.9 89 l00
3.4. ACCESS TO SOCIAL SERVICES
Access to safe water, as shown in survey output is very limited among the Afar deportees. Only 27.6% of them have access to safe water from both tap and public water points. The remaining 62.9% get water from other unprotected water sources, which implies that there is a high chance of vulnerability to water borne, and water related diseases. On the other hand, their access to health institutions is high (94.4%). The percentage of school age children attending school is 48.30%, which is much less than of Amhara which is 63.50%
The deportees in general do not have high educational level. The survey result shows that 35.3% are illiterate, 6.6% can only read and write and 39.2% have primary education, 8.09% have secondary education and only 0.98% have higher education. Consequently, the information on their pre- deportation occupational status shows that 22.6% were petty traders and 1 1.30% of them were engaged in unskilled labor work. This trend is not changed after deportation. Indeed the survey shows that even more people are involved in these two fields after deportation as 30% are now petty traders and 25.8% are day laborers, though the type of petty trade or unskilled work they were engaged and the amount of income they derive from these occupations may vary greatly.
- 75 - Table 2: Occupation Before and After Deportation
Occupation Before After Number % Number % None 7 11.3 5 8-2 Daily labour 7 11.3 16 25.8 Petty trade 14 22.6 19 30.6 Cottage industry 2 3.2 2 3.2 House wife 6 9.7 2 3.2 House worker 7 11.3 9 14.5 Others 19 30.6 9 14.5 Totals 62 100 62 100
3.5. FOOD ASSISTANCE
The survey result shows that only 6% of the deportees (mainly those who live in camps) have received food assistance, while the majority (94%) of them have not received at all. Of those who received food assistance, 50% of them reported that they were assisted for 6 months and above, while 43% of them had the assistance for 1-3 months. Therefore, their livelihood depends on daily labour and support from other individuals.
The discussions with the community members and the regional DPPB and ESRDF suggest that deportees in the region need food assistance for one year. Accordingly, the WFP standard has been used to estimate the food assistance for the total estimated number of deportees (3,000 households) for one year.
Table 3: Estimated Food Assistance Requirement
Quantity Total No. No. of Duration of Total Food items person/month of children the amount in required in kg Deportees mothers assistance in quintal months Sorghum/wheat 15 15,000 12 27,000 Oil 0.75 15,000 12 1,350 FAMIX 2.00 3,750 12 900
Assumptions: * The total number of deportee households is estimated at 3,000 * According to the national average of household size, the deportee household is multiplied by 5 and the total number of deportees is estimated at 15,000 * Food assistance is required for one year. * 25% of the deportees are children under five years old and pregnant and/or lactating women (3,750)
The monthly income of the deportees is indicated in the graph below. According to the graph, about 40% of the deportees get a monthly income of Birr 121-250. Only a few of them (7%) get above Birr 350 per month.
The future needs and priorities of the deportees are reported as petty trading which is related to their current occupation. Although there is an opportunity of employment in the cotton plantation farm as daily labourers, none of them indicated this area of occupation as a future means of livelihood because of the seasonal employment nature of the plantation and also depends on the success of the cultivation.
- 76 - HIV/AIDS is a concern particularly for the deportee young giris in Afar Region. Owing to lack of means of livelihood and the presence of the military base in Afar, the number of young girls joining the commercial sex business has been increasing There are some efforts being made by governmental and non- governmental organizations to raise the awareness level of the community about H[V/AIDS. According to the survey results, almost all the sample deportees (98%) have the knowledge of HIV/AIDS. The sources of information include meetings (37%), radio (45%) and from friends.
4. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
The Ethio-Eritrean border conflict had a direct effect in the Afar Regional state. Pastoralists whose livelihood depends on livestock were displaced from their domains of grazing and watering. The Afar pastoralist that lived along the boarder of Eritrea in zones one and two depend on livestock production, livestock trading, and transporting merchandise from the port to the inner part of the country, were and are still affected by the war. There are also deportees from Eritrea who are waiting for rehabilitation support in these localities. Some households also lost their breadwinners during the conflict. Furthermore, Afars and non-Afars who were deported from Eritrea are living in the small towns of the region increasing the economic and social pressure of the community. Most of the deportees in the region are not Afars and are mainly from Amhara and Tigray Regions who before the conflict used to live in Assab town.
The survey result shows that the war-affected population in Afar Region are living in a very poor condition in all social and economic parameters of livelihood. Most of them did not have food assistance and their access to social services is very limited. A rapid assessment of the needs of deportees and urban IDPs in the region was conducted by ESRDF. However, the ERP assistance has not yet reached the Afar war-affected population due to various reasons.
Regarding food assistance, both the urban and rural respondents expressed that lack of food is among their major problems. This situation will no doubt interfere with the rehabilitation program with the risk of using the rehabilitation inputs for immediate needs of the households. Therefore, the ERP needs to solve the food shortage problem in collaboration with DPPB, UN agencies and NGOs.
The needs assessment and prioritization of the beneficiaries in the region indicate that the pastoral IDPs would like to get animals particularly camels and cows for milking. The urban IDPs and deportees would like to engage in IGS, petty trading being the priority.
Based on the findings of the survey, the following recommendations are made:
* The restocking of animals should take place based on the needs of the IDPs - camels and cows for milking are often the priorities in the region * Expedite the assistance for deportees. The rehabilitation strategy and the project profiles presented in this report could be followed in rehabilitating the deportees in the Afar Region * Families of deceased require assistance during the preparation of the business plan. They need to be encouraged to use the benefit packages for productive economic activities * Food assistance is very critical to ensure that the rehabilitation program is successful and sustainable. Otherwise, there is a danger of using the rehabilitation benefits for immediate food requirement. * Most of the pastoral IDPs have not returned to their domains due to fear of landmine and there is a need to speed up the de-mining process. * Almost all the pastoralists are illiterate. The ERP program should include education for the children of the deceased as a component of the benefit package.
- 77 - CHAPTER FOUR: ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS OF REHABILITATION INTERVENTIONS
The complementarities between economic development and environmental sustainability have increasingly become important in global economic development strategies. The World Bank has embarked on a major effort to incorporate environmental issues into its lending and advisory activities. The government of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia (FDRE) has also promulgated environmental policy and strategies to guide sustainable economic and social development in the country. To this effect, the present study has given due attention to environmental impacts that the rehabilitation interventions might entail in the target regions.
Potential negative social and environmental impacts and related mitigation measures were identified by a multi-disciplinary team during project appraisal. PMUs were established in Tigray and Afar to manage the household rehabilitation component for IDPs, deportees, and families of deceased in those regions, and in the, Federal Disaster Prevention and Preparedness Commission and their regional bureau to manage the household component in the other regions for deportees and families of deceased. Each PIU prepared an implementation plan for its part of the project. Plans for IDPs set out the budgetary allocation process, the process of community consultations which is used to prioritize needs to remain within budget constraints, the process of delivery of cash and materials to beneficiary households and the screening and monitoring of environmental and social impacts. Plans for deportees and families of deceased set out the process of beneficiary identification, consultation to agree on a support package, flow of funds, and assessment of potential negative social impacts. During implementation the PMU Task Force has tracked these potential impacts with a view to mitigate them if it proved necessary. The starting point for the ESA was the assessment of the mechanisms put in place by the Project Management Units (PMU) in addressing potentially negative social and environmental impacts.
The following consultations were carried out to finalize and disseminate the PIPs:
* Stakeholders Workshop (Tigray Regional State - Adigrat): A workshop was held with some 50 beneficiaries (42 men and 9 women) from Tabias in the Eastern Zone of Tigray in Adigrat on January 28, 2001. The Workshop was opened by a regional official (Dr. Solomon Inquay, then Head of Regional Social Affairs Bureau and now Regional Parliament Spokes Person). After general briefing on the ERP objectives and operational mechanisms, beneficiaries were asked to provide their views on the main aspects of the process where by assistance would reach beneficiary households and on various implementation issues. Participants were divided into three groups and discussed in detail: i) project implementation cycle, ii) housing reconstruction and iii) agriculture and income generating activities. The output of the workshop was a detailed implementation manual on the household rehabilitation component that describes: i)approaches and principles, ii)project implementation cycle, iii) players and roles and iv) benefit packages. The workshop also updated stakeholders on environmental and safeguard issues.
* Focus group meetings with 27 people (15 men and 12 women) was carried out in an area where 2400 displaced households reside in January 2001 in Tigray and issues related to: i) overgrazing ii) community management of rehabilitation process, iii) women's lead role, iv) monitoring and v) partnership between government, private sector, NGO and community were discussed.
* Rehabilitation Task Forces established at the local level(woreda and kebelle level) drawn from woreda/kebelle administrations, technical bureaus (agriculture, health, education, etc),CBO representatives (farmers, women and youth associations) are the key implementation support units closer to the households. In less than three months after project effectiveness, the ERP has oriented
- 78 - 1086 persons in the regions of Tigray, Amhara, Afae, Oromria SNNP, Somali, Benishangul-Gumz and Addis Ababa, who are members of local level rehabilitation task forces. The orientation for the rehabilitation task forces focused on ERP - objectives and principles, project implementation cycle, their own roles and the roles of other players, and the skills and information needed for specific tasks(e.g. household assessment, environment screening, compiling community requests, etc.).
* The rehabilitation task forces at woreda and tabia/kebelle level in turn have informed the ERP objectives and operational guidelines to the beneficiaries in various kebelle and sub-kebelle level meetings carried out between March 2001 and November 2002. In fact, individual beneficiary households have been visited by members of rehabilitation taskforces during need assessment and advise was provided to 61, 000 IDPs, 69,000 families of the deceased and 71,000 deportees on the choice of an appropriate agricultural or income generating activities. Generally, environmental degradation is a concern in northern Ethiopia, especially in Tigray Region. Deforestation and soil erosion are the major cause for land degradation and poor agricultural performance. Some efforts are underway to combat the environmental degradation in the region. Some these efforts include terracing and area enclosures. The case of Afar is different regarding environmental issues and is related to stocking rate and the land carrying capacity. The equilibrium of the land carrying capacity and stocking rate in pastoral systems, particularly in Afar, has been debatable in the existing development literature. Therefore, further research will be generally needed to draw conclusions whether the land carrying capacity and the stocking rates are compatible or not.
The findings of the study showed that most of the household rehabilitation interventions do not create adverse environmental impacts. The ESA has addressed environmental and social issues by category of beneficiaries and rehabilitation interventions:
1. INTERVENTIONS FOR INTERNALLY DISPLACED PEOPLE (IDPs)
The efforts of the government and the World Bank are geared towards assisting the IDPs to start normal productive lives and benefit packages have been set for the rehabilitation of the IDPs. The benefit package for IDPs includes agricultural inputs, housing reconstruction, IGS and household utensils. The agricultural rehabilitation assistance for Tigray farming IDPs includes restocking, purchase of farm implements and fertilizer, while for the Afar farming IDPs, the package also includes restocking, purchases of farm tools and improved seeds. On the other hand, the rehabilitation assistance to an Afar pastoral IDP household includes restocking with a camel, 2 heifers, and 5 small ruminants.
In Afar, the estimates of livestock holding before and after the conflict show that the households have lost significant number of their livestock and restocking is required to sustain their livelihoods. Environmental risks associated with restocking activities could arise from an increase in herd size, or from the introduction of new species to local environment. Restocking in Afar is solely through local purchases, so the herd size is not increasing and no new species of livestock is being introduced. Even with the proposed restocking, the number of cattle owned by IDPs will be below pre-conflict levels. ,As a result, no incremental adverse environmental impact can result from the restocking intervention. This is not to say that there are not grazing problems in the Afar Region but only that the ERP is not exacerbating them. The planned Pastoralist Project in Afar will address long term issues related to stocking rates, land carrying capacity and economic development in pastoral Afar.
The ESRDF Afar Office in collaboration with woreda and kebelle rehabilitation task forces has carried out a household assessment (HA) in four war affected woredas (Berhale, Erepti, Elidar and Dallol) and identified 5034 IDPs (households) requiring rehabilitation assistance in 2001. Of these households, 4124 (82%) are pastoral IDPs who chose to be rehabilitated with restocking. The remaining 880 are urban IDPs who chose to be assisted with income generation activities. Between July 2002 and January 2003, about 3000 pastoral
- 79 - IDPs have received rehabilitation assistance. The maximum rehabilitation assistance provided was Birr 5000 per household for 900 destitute IDPs, who lost most of their livestock since they were in the boarder areas during the war. With the maximum rehabilitation assistance, each pastoral IDP is expected to buy one camel, five sheep/goats, two heifers, household items, and a mobile housing unit. The household assessments and household allocations to each IDP were carried out in a participatory fashion involving the beneficiaries themselves. Priorities were given to destitute pastoral households in occupied tabias/kebelles. In addition to the ERP assistance, The ESRDF RO has provided 5 shoats to 2470 households in the war affected areas in collaboration with FAO. The Bureau of Agriculture has also provided veterinary drugs and vaccines to those IDPs in collaboration. The regional Disaster Prevention and Preparedness Bureau (DPPB) is also providing food assistance in collaboration with WFP in areas affected by the drought.
Currently, there is an active food security project amounting to US$100.6 million being implemented in selected 156 woredas of the regions of Amhara, Oromia, SNNP and Tigray ( where large proportion of ERP beneficiaries reside). The major objective of this project is to build the resource base of poorer rural households, increase their employment and incomes, reduce the real cost of food and improve nutrition level of children under 5 years of age as well as pregnant and lactating mothers. This project is believed to compliment the ERP beneficiaries by providing grants to communities or kebelles to increase household and community assets and incomes by better management of rain fed agriculture (crops and livestock); investment in small scale irrigation; better natural resource management through "zero tillage" technique on farms, and catchments level activities to conserve soil, reverse soil degradation, improve water harvesting and use, and improve distribution of labor; development of off farm enterprise; reduce stunting in children under 5 years of age and improve child and adult nutrition through a community based child growth promotion programme; and investment in training and development.
The pastoral development project, which is currently under appraisal, is expected to do most of the above activities in the pastoral areas of Afar, Somali, Oromia and Southern regions.
The environmental risks associated with housing reconstruction for IDPs could be improper site selection and drainage and sanitary problems, over use of local materials that can cause deforestation, and lack of proper design and necessary structure. However, almost all the reconstruction activities are small scale and will be executed in already developed areas. In addition, there is a shift in Tigray from the traditional beam and earth packed roofing to a new type which is replaced by corrugated iron sheet roof covering and this shift in using construction materials reduces the concern of adverse environmental impact. Moreover, the IDPs will be fully involved in all steps of the reconstruction activities from planning to completion of the reconstruction.
. Under the household rehabilitation component of ERP, IDPs are being assisted with agricultural benefit packages (oxen, heifers, sheep, goats, farm implements, seeds and fertilizer), but the procurement and use of pesticides was not included in the rehabilitation package, and none was found during the ESA. Accordingly, no adverse environmental impacts are expected. The use of fertilizer is not expected to cause any damage on the environment since the farmers get technical assistance through the extension Unit of the respective regional bureausof agriculture on how to use them, when to use them and in what quantities to use them.
2. INTERVENTIONS FOR FAMILIES OF DECEASED
The benefit package for families of deceased includes agricultural inputs and IGS. The needs assessment of urban families of deceased revealed that IGS including petty trading, grinding mills are the priorities. For the rural families of deceased, purchase of livestock is the predominant priority. Acquiring oxen for traction, pack animals for the purpose of renting out and generating income, small ruminants for rearing and reselling were identified as priority needs. Housing construction or maintenance, which is not part of the benefit package, has also been identified as a priority. Regarding the environmental impacts of these and other
- 80 - related rehabilitation interventions, the analyses provided for rehabilitation interventions of deportees and IDPs are applicable.
3. INTERVENTIONS FOR DEPORTEES
Deportees are concentrated in urban areas of the country. It is estimated that about 80% of the deportees are in Tigray Region, mainly concentrating in Mekale, Adigrat and other small towns. In Amhara Region, deportees are residing in Bahir Dar, Kombolcha, Dessie, Debre Tabor, Gondar, Woldiya and Bati towns, with the highest concentration in Kombolcha, Dessie and Woldiya. In Afar Region, Dubti, Assaita and Bure are the major towns where deportees are concentrating.
During the survey, the needs of the deportees were assessed and identified on a participatory fashion. Accordingly, income generating schemes (IGS) have been considered as the appropriate rehabilitation interventions for the deportees. The deportees came up with a long list of IGS which include petty trading, poutry, grinding mills, soap making, dairy farming, waste collection etc. Furthermore, housing was identified as one of the rehabilitation interventions for this group of beneficiaries as they depend on their relatives or live in rented houses. Most of the IGS identified by the beneficiaries do not have adverse environmental impacts. For instances, petty trading activities have no physical work on the environmental and as a result will not create any adverse environmental hazards to the area.
According to the technical annex, shelter is not included in the benefit package for deportees. However, if shelter (urban) is to be included in the benefit package, there could be certain environmental and social issues to be considered - the land acquisition is an issue in urban areas; improper site selection could cause drainage and sanitary problems etc. To this effect, before the construction of the houses, mitigation measures should be thought. The mitigation measures include involving the beneficiaries in the process of appropriate selection of sites and designs, housing construction following standard drainage system and urban planning.
- 81 - CHAPTER FIVE: SOCIO-ECONOMIC IMPACTS OF THE INTERVENTIONS - SAFEGUARD ISSUES
In general, the emergency rehabilitation interventions are not expected to cause unintended or negative social and economic impacts. They instead are expected to have added economic and social values for the beneficiaries and the local communities. Brief explanations are provided below:
The war-affected IDPs in Tigray have moved to neighboring woredas and no social problems were observed as a result of the displacement. However, the woredas and tabias where they have moved to had limited social services and economic opportunities even before displacement and the displacement has increased the burden on the host community. Similarly, in Afar, the livestock owners have moved to other woredas and/or kebeles within same woredas which are relatively landmine free. Traditionally, Afars share what they have with others regardless of clan belongingness and pastoral IDPs did not have any social problems with the local communities. However, the IDPs cannot continue sharing the scarce water and grazing resources which suggests that the de-mining effort should be expedited and the rehabilitation interventions should be implemented. It is imperative to note that the rehabilitation interventions of IDPs (agricultural rehabilitation, IGS, housing reconstruction) will not have affects on the community and will rather reduce the burden of the host communities on which the IDPs are depending.
Deportees are concentrating in urban centers of Tigray, Afar and Amhara Regions. They have been well integrated with the communities sharing the scarce social services and economic opportunities in the respective urban centers. However, the social integration of the deportees in Afar Region differs between the Afars and non-Afars. The Afar deportees have been able to integrate immediately unlike those deportees from other regions. It is important to note that the deportation has resulted in an increase of unemployment and also in the number of commercial sex workers in the respective towns. Thus, the rehabilitation interventions for deportees are expected to consider additional resources for social services and economic opportunities in the urban centers where the deportees are concentrating. Additional employment opportunities will also reduce the number of commercial sex workers which in tum may reduce the impact of HIV/AIDS. This means that the rehabilitation interventions will not cause negative impacts but will instead have added economic and social values.
The ERP interventions do not involve involuntary settlement of beneficiaries. The plan is that the IDPs in both regions will eventually return to their origins and continue their usual productive economic lives. However, there could still be some problems associated with to landmines, especially in some of the woredas and tabias and this calls for speeding up of the de-mining process. In addition, IDPs displaced from the disputable areas may face a problem to return and the peace and reconciliation program will be also encouraged for the IDPs to return to their origins in the disputable areas. Regarding the deportees, the survey attempted to investigate where they would like to settle when they get the assistance and most of them prefer to stay in the same places where they are after deportation. Thus, there will not be any involuntary settlement as a result of the rehabilitation interventions.
The project prioritization, planning and implementation are expected to be conducted in consultation with the community and the beneficiaries so as to ensure continuity and sustainability of the interventions. The participation of NGOs working on similar projects and geographical areas as well as local government departments will also be encouraged. This will be consistent with the new decentralization policy of the country which in principle encourages the participation of various stakeholders, including the community, in decision making and development activities.
- 82 - CHAPTER SIX: MONITORING AND EVALUATION
1. CURRENT PRACTICES
For projects/programs to be successful in impacting on the beneficiaries, appropriate monitoring and evaluation should be in place. The M & E system should demonstrate how information flows at various levels, the reporting period, the M & E formats and basic indicators, level of detail in reporting at the different levels up the ladder, degree of responsibility of each stakeholder in the system, means of transmitting feedbacks.
For the ERP M & E, there is already a structure (particularly in Tigray and Amahara) in place for reporting of the process of the program implementation, which flows from Kebele to the Federal level. For instance, in the Amhara Region, the Kebele Technical Task Forces (TTFs) are supposed to report to their respective Woreda TTFs. The Woreda TTFs in tum report to zonal committees and the latter do to their respective sub- regional ERP Management Units in Bahir Dar and Dessie. Both the Federal ERPMU and Disaster Prevention and Preparedness Bureau (DPPB) of the region have the responsibility of monitoring and evaluating the activities of the West and East Amhara ERP Management Units and the sub regional ERPMUs summit their periodic reports to the former. The responsibilities of the various organs at different decision making levels are outlined in the working manuals and the different directives. However, the systems actually being implemented and the effectiveness of the monitoring and evaluation process in general greatly vary from Woreda to Woreda.
In Tigray, a well-established reporting system is applied where the 'Kushet' RTF committee reports to the Kebele RTF which in tum reports to Woreda RTF. The 'Kushet' RTF committee monitors the utilization of the benefit by each individual beneficiary according to the priority set. In cases of diversions, in some areas like Gulomekeda (Tigray), there is an agreement form that the beneficiary signs before getting the support. This agreement obliges him/her to use the money according to the plan. In cases of diversion for other uses, the total fund extended is to be re-paid by the beneficiary. The community structure is also playing significant role in controlling the utilization of the support. Besides the regular reports coming from 'Kushet' and Kebeles, the Woreda RTF are conducting regular random monitoring activities at Kebele and 'Kushet' levels.
In general, the existing M & E practices have brought about successful results as it has been reported in the evaluation report. However, there were certain problems that need to be resolved to be the foundation of an effective M & E system for the rest of the life of the program.
2. CONSTRAINTS IN THE EXISTING M & E ACTIVITIES
Committee members at the Woreda level have their own responsibilities and assignments in their respective offices, and the ERP task is an additional undertaking. In addition to this, the common free-rider problem in committee works; lack of clearly defined guidelines and responsibilities to be enforced among members caused lack of commitment on ERP activities in certain respects. The ERP activities seem to be undertaken in an ad hoc basis and problems usually arise whenever committee members are altered.
Effective and proper follow-ups of the programs involve field trips in the different parts of each Woreda, which could not be pursued in the absence of per diems and transport facilities. In spite of being felt as a serious constraint, ERP has not allocated budgets for such and related activities. Owing to this, mostly, the reports of the Woreda ERP implementing committees is based largely on books of accounts of their finance departments and the activities of beneficiaries in the surrounding areas of the capital city of the Woreda.
- 83 - 3. PROPOSED MONITORING AND EVALUATION SYSTEM
As it is displayed in the diagram below, the behavior of the program requires at least four levels of reporting beginning from the target groups at the community level to the federal bodies. There are three different M & E activities. * Monthly flow-up by kebele RTFs and quarterly report at woreda level - currently, the kebeles report to woredas on a monthly basis which is very important for the woeda to compile the information on a quarterly basis. * Rapid assessment on certain issues which require special attention * Mid-term and ex-post evaluation which will be based on surveys
Quarterly Follow-up/ Monitoring
At the community and beneficiaries level, the follow-up of the input delivery and the proper use of the funds should be done by the community committee themselves. Simple one-page forms need to be developed in this purpose and would be filled quarterly by the community committee to monitor the following points: - new purchases, - remaining balance, - record of the use of the grant including intended and non-intended purchases.
The proper uses of benefits should be closely followed up at community level. For this purpose, a simple one-page format needs to be developed to be filled by committees every month. Based on the monthly reports of the Kebele,, the woreda ERP committee (RTA or TTF) might act accordingly if the situation requires immediate measure. The woreda committee through its secretariat should organize and summarize the monthly reports of the various community ERP committees and report to the regional ERP coordinating committees. Depending on the nature of the findings of the Woreda M & E reports, the regional committee either reports to the Federal ERPMU or take measures as required.
The regional coordinating committees should develop two types of formats for reporting the status of the program implementation. On a quarterly basis, it needs to report to the Federal responsible bodies about the actual disbursements, the overall functioning of the M & E system at the woreda and Kebele ERP committee levels and major constraints to the Federal bodies. The second type of the report should take into account an overview of the actual uses of the fund by beneficiaries in addition to the overall performance of ERP committees at different levels. This report is expected two times per year.
The Federal ERP coordinating committees should provide its feedback within a reasonable period (but fixed a priori) for the regular bi-yearly reports of the regions and immediate reaction might be worthwhile whenever deemed necessary.
In order to effectively undertake the proposed monitoring and evaluation, it might require a permanent employee or permanently assigned personnel to undertake the activities of ERP at the woreda level and be a permanent secretariat for the ERP coordinating committee at the woreda level. The employee would be primarily responsible to collect monthly reports of the community committees and organize them in a manner that suits the demands of the regional ERP coordinating committees and avail them to the Woreda ERP committee for discussion and approval. In addition, he/she could be responsible to assess the functioning of the committee members vis-a-vis their responsibilities and reports to them for timely corrections.
At the woreda level, ERP should allocate funds for per diems and transportation to conduct field trips and the actual use of the fund might be justified through the submission of field reports to the regional level. There should also be experience sharing among different Woredas that might be organized by the regional ERP coordinating committees.
- 84 - 4. RAPID ASSESSMENT
In some instances, there could be a need to undertake a rapid assessment in order to explore the situation and take immediate corrective measures. Thus, under such circumstances, the federal, regional or the woreda level ERP coordinating or M & E committees may undertake field trips and make rapid assessments out of plan. This needs its own arrangements and formats depending on the nature of the issue.
5. EVALUATION
A mid-term and an ex-post evaluation are proposed. The mid-term evaluation will be conducted on the mid of the project life span and will make some recommendations for the further operatins of the program. When the program terminates, an ex-post evaluation will be carried out which will be aimed at assessing the impact of the program on the beneficiaries. Part of the samples that have been used for the evaluation of the 15' disbursement could be re-used so as to monitor changes on a sample of households that would be followed over the whole project life.
- 85 - CHAPTER SEVEN: REHABILITATION STRATEGY FOR DEPORTEES
1. GENERAL REHABILITATION STRATEGY 1.1. NEEDS ASSESSMENT
Following the conflict between Ethiopia and Eritrea in May 1998, about 110,000 Ethiopians were deported from Eritrea. The deportees are living all over the country, particularly in urban areas of Tigray, Amhara and Afar. Most of the deportees are women, children and the elderly who have arrived with little possessions and without means of survival.
According to the needs assessment conducted with deportees in Tigray, Afar and Amhara Regions, some Income Generating Schemes (IGS) could be considered and developed to rehabilitate the deportees. The results of the survey and the focus group discussions with deportees and other stakeholders revealed some possible IGS.
Some of the potential IGS that were identified by the deportees in the three regions include the following: * petty trading * grinding mill and other produce processing activities, * soap making, * hand-pump mechanic, * Butter and honey trading * public stand-tap operator, * tailoring * artisan * Provision of cart service * Metal work * mechanic/garage, * mason/carpenter, plumbing, painting, and other construction activities, * activities in related with waste collection, * peri-urban vegetable/fruit production
The survey results also show that some of the deportees have the skills in some of the above activities. Details on demographic and socio-economic features of the deportees are provided in the annex volume of this report.
1.2. PREPARATION OF INDIVIDUAL BUSINESS PLANS
The establishment of the business plan and the detailed technical formulation of the Project should not be a desk exercise done by experts. Past experience with deportees and other income-generating schemes shows that this needs to be done in a participatory manner, with the beneficiary the main actor in the development of the plan.
Simple forms should be prepared for the plan to address the following: * fixed assets and inputs required, * manpower requirements, * expected sales, * operation expenses, * loan repayment, * depreciation.
- 86 - Simple financial and economic indicators need also be developed, and thresholds for these indicators could be determined in relation with MFIs, banks, and organisations with experience in MFIs. Projects requiring expensive fixed assets or with long return periods should as a rule be avoided. Attention should be paid to the potential involvement of other household members (spouse, children) in the Project.
The focus groups discussions with some governmental and NGO staff who have been involved in the first efforts of deportee rehabilitation show that there are lessons to be learnt from these experiences, specifically those carried out by AARRDP and DSCP in Dessie town.
1.3. MARKETS AND FINANCIAL COST AND BENEFIT ANALYSIS FOR SOME IGS
Deportees are concentrating in the towns of Mekelle and Adigrat, Axum and Inticho of Tigray Region. In Amhara, they are concentrating in Kombolcha, Dessie, Woldiaya, Bati, Bahir Dar and Gondar, while in Afar they are residing in Assaita, Bure and Dubti. There are difference IGS taking place in these towns before and after the conflict. It was observed during the survey in these towns that some of the deportees have also been engaged some activities - tea/coffee shops and small bars, metal work and others which suggests that some of the IGS could be viable to the deportees if supported financially and technically especially in providing some basic training programs.
Generally, it was learnt that the IGS preferred by the beneficiaries include running tea/coffee shops, metal work, tailoring and cart services, particularly in Mekelle, Adigrat, Kombolcha, Woldiya and Dessie towns. Tea/coffee shops are promising, especially in towns located near the border and where the military presence is significant in Tigray and Afar Regions. Tailoring and metal work seem to be a viable activity in some border towns but metal work is mentioned only in one woreda i.e. Irob (apparently selling the services to the community).
Furthermore, petty trading has been found as one of the potential IGS in Kombolcha, Dessie, Assaita towns. The activities can also be replicated and implemented in other towns in the region for the internally displaced people especially for those living in urban areas near and around the borders. They petty trading can involve buying and selling of consumers' goods such as salt, sugar and tea, kerosene etc. Grain marketing is also possible if the size of the capital permits.
The financial costs and benefits of some the selected IGS have been presented below. The current cost of inputs and output have been considered for the estimates of the financial costs and benefits of the selected IGS which are more or less applicable in the major towns of Tigray, Amhara and Afar Regions.
- 87 - Indicative Financial Return and Cost Analysis for some IGS (Birr)
No Project Items Amt. Year 1 2 3 4 5 1 RUNNING Expenditure TEA/COFFEE ChairsEquipment (40 birr/unit) 10 400 SHOPS Tables (40 birr/unit) 3 120 Cups (3 birr/unit) 20 60 Kittle (40 birr/unit) 3 120 Spoons (2 birr/unit) 20 40 Stove (1500 birr/unit) 1 1500 Shelf (500 birr/unit) 1 500 Sub Total -Investment 2740
Running Cost Salary 2 2400 2400 2400 2400 2400 Waiter/Waitress (100 birr/month) 1 1200 1200 1200 1200 1200 Cooker (100 birr/month) 1 1200 1200 1200 1200 1200 Guard (100 birr/month) 6000 6000 6000 6000 6000 Consumables (500 birr/month) Utilities 1200 1200 1200 1200 1200 Water (30 birr/month) 1800 1800 1800 1800 1800 Power (150 birr/month) Coffee/Tea Rooms Rent (200 birr/month) 2400 2400 2400 2400 2400 Maintenance/Replacement - 500 500 500 500 Sub Total - Running Cost/Year 16200 16700 16700 16700 16700
Revenue/Sales (in Birr) Tea - 0.25/unit - 100 units sold/day 7,800 7,800 7,800 7,800 7,800 Coffee - 0.75/unit - 50 units sold/day 11,700 11,700 11,700 11,700 11,700 Milk- 0.75/unit- 50 units sold/day 11,700 11,700 11,700 11,700 11,700 Soft drinks - 1.75/unit - 10 units sold/day 5,400 5,400 5,400 5,400 5,400 Breakfast - 2.50/unit - 15 units sold/day 11,700 11,700 11,700 11,700 11,700 Sub Total - Sales/Gross Revenue 48,300 48,300 48,300 48,300 48,300 Less Expenditure 18,940 16,700 16,700 16,700 16700 Net Revenue 29,360 31,600 31,600 31,600 31600
- 84 - 2 Tailoring o Material * Sewing Machine 1 2,000 * Training LS 1,500 o Work Place * Room (150 birr/month) 1,800 1,800 1,800 1,800 1,800 o Running Cost (300 birr/month) 3,600 3,600 3,600 3,600 3,600 o Maintenance/Replacement - 250 250 250 250 o Sub Total - Expenditure 8,900 5,650 5,650 5,650 5,650 o Gross Revenue - (30 birr/day) 9,360 9,360 9,360 9,360 9,360 o Net Revenue 460 3710 3710 3710 3710
3 Metal Work o Equipment LS 1,000 - o Training 1,500 - o Work Place (100 birr/month) 1,200 1,200 1,200 1,200 1,200 o Running Cost (200 birr/month) 2,400 2,400 2,400 2,400 2,400 o Maintenance/Replacement - 200 200 200 200 o Sub Total - Expenditure 6,100 3,800 3,800 3,800 3,800 o Gross Revenue (25 birr/day) 7,800 7,800 7,800 7,800 7,800 o Net Revenue 1,700 4,000 4,000 4,000 4,000
4 Cart Services o Investment * Donkeys 2 400 - - - - * Cart 1 1500 - - - - * Feed (50 birr/month) 600 600 600 600 600 * Replacement/Maintenance - 500 500 500 500 o Sub Total - Expenditure 2500 1100 1100 1100 1100 o Gross Revenue (20 birr/day) 6,240 6,240 6,240 6,240 6,240 o Net Revenue 3,740 5,140 5,140 5,140 5,140 5 o Revenue from sales 15,000 15,000 15,000. 15,000 15,000 PETTY o Total Expense 12,576 12,576 12,576 12,576 12,576 TRADING OF Purchases of goods 12,000 12,000 12,000 12,000 12,000 CONSUMERS o Labour (8 md/month*12*Birr 6) 576 576 576 576 576 GOODS o Gross Benefit 2,424 2,424 2,424 2,424 2,424
Note: The estimates provided for costs and benefits are similar for each year. However, it is assumed that they will change with price variations and when the beeneficiaries capitalize part of their benefits every year.
- 85 - 1.4. PARTICIPATION OF THE DEPORTEES IN THE PROCESS
During the focus group discussions, deportees expressed the opinion that they have been abandoned. Economic rehabilitation cannot be achieved without some degree of psychological rehabilitation, and consultation with deportees on important issues is certainly one way to make them feel better recognized. It is proposed that committees of deportees should be formed at town level to discuss rehabilitation issues with the implementation organisation. More importantly, the committees should participate in the final review of projects when they are submitted to financial support.
1.5. FINANCING
Procedures need to be developed with the MFI(s) involved to determine:
* the eligible amounts and duration of loans (4), * application procedures, * the conditions and duration of repayment, as well as possible grace period and other specifics, * the interest rate, * the guarantees, * the penalties triggered by incapacity to repay in due time.
1.6. INSTITUTIONAL ARRANGEMENT
It is possible that some of these capabilities may not be found within the usual implementation organisations used by the ERP so far (the woreda/kebelle task forces). The first stage of the preparation of the detailed action plan for deportees should therefore be to identify external organisations with these capabilities, and to assess the required capacity building if any. There is a strong NGO presence in some of the concerned areas, and some ofthem aie already active with deportees. NGOs and specialised micro-finance institutions (MFIs) should therefore be included in the organisations whose capabilities will be assessed, and which may take part in implementation. .
In Amhara Region there are several NGOs involved in IGS. Some of these NGOs include the Amarha Development Association (ADA), Organization for the Rehabilitation and Development of Amhara (ORDA), SOS Sahel, and others are involved in income generating schemes, particularly in food insecure woredas (urban and rural) in Amhara Region. The Amhara Bureau of Trade and Industry is also undertakeing income diversification assessment in some sample woredas of the region, which is financed by Swedish International Development Agency (Sida). The Amhara Credit and Saving Institution (ACSI) is also active in providing credit facilities for income generating schemes. In Tigray Region, there are various NGOs involved in the rehabilitation of the displaced, particularly the Relief Society of Tigray (REST) and others. Dedebit Rural Credit Institute is also providing credit facilities. However, there are such few institutions in Afar Region. Afar Pastoral Development Association (APDA) through which the rehabilitation program could be implemented. Furthermore, the relevant government organizations, such as, Bureau of Trade and Industry, Agriculture, BoLSA could be involved in the rehabilitation process.
4 In accordance with experience gained with MFIs throughout Africa, most loans should be short-term, with a duration in the order of 6 months. 1.7. SELECTION OF PILOT TOWNS
The rehabilitation program should start with pilot towns of the different regions. The selection criteria of the pilot towns could be presence of NGOs undertaking similar projects, the concentration of the deportees, availability of micro financing institutions. The deportees should be provided with the budget constraint - the ceiling of the benefits that they can get from the program so that they can prioritize their needs. With the budget constraint they have, it is possible to encourage them to seek additional resources from MFIs or other sources to start their business. The experience of the program in the pilot towns can be replicated to other towns.
1.8. PROVISION OF TRAINING
One of the basic criteria rules for project development and selection should be that the beneficiary has already some basic technical knowledge of the activity he/she is willing to launch. As a rule, technical training requirements should therefore be limited. Training will mainly aim at developing basic skills in the following domains: * basic accountancy: simple forms (5) and rules must be developed and addressed at training stage, * finance: relations with the MFI, loan application, loan repayment, guarantees, penalties, * monitoring of the economic performance of the activity, * legal framework if required.
Where technical training is needed, existing organizations will be used. Apprenticeships may also be developed where feasible (construction activities).
1.9. FOOD ASSISTANCE
Past experience with deportees shows that where people did not receive food support and had a grant to rehabilitate, they used part of this grant to purchase food, which hampered the rehabilitation efforts.
Deportees should therefore get food assistance during the training and rehabilitation period. Except for the most vulnerable households, the delivery of the food assistance should be made conditional, for example, to the following: * effectiveness of the involvement of the household in the project preparation, * effective attendance to the training sessions, * effectiveness of the first repayments of the loan.
Based on the findings of the survey, the deportees require 6-12 months to start generating income and help themselves. Therefore, the food assistance could be planned for this period.
1.10. SHELTER
In addition, the regional authorities should be supported in finding solutions for the lack of shelter, through provision of semi-permanent housing materials in rural areas and investigate options for low-cost housing in urban areas. Deportees/returnees should be specifically targeted in the regional and federal level policies, aimed at improving access to housing and land.
5 This is not the complex accountancy needed for a formal cooperative or company. The aim is to allow the project initiatorto monitor his own activity with simple indicators. 1.11. PREPARATION OF ACTION PLAN
Prior to implementation, the stages described above should result in the preparation of a detailed action plan, establishing the following: * budget, * "menu" of eligible activities, resulting from the market studies, * implementation arrangements for each region, including technical support, financing, training, with details on the functional relations between Regional PMUs and other partners involved, * modalities of fund channeling taking into consideration the likely involvement of Micro-Finance Institutions, * food aid requirements and identification of associated donors, * assistance package for vulnerable households.
1.12. MONITORING
Monitoring includes the following two aspects:
Daily follow-ups of the project development and implementation: this would be done by each the implementation organisations selected at zone/town level and would comprise of the following: * assistance in project development, establishment of the business plan with the beneficiary, assistance in loan application; * assistance in project implementation; where feasible, participation of the deportee committee in this assistance should be sought; * monitoring/evaluation by the ERPMU at regional and federal levels of the proper implementation of the program and of the good performance of initiated income-generating project. The baseline gathered on deportees for the ESAwill be used in this purpose, with check surveys every two years conducted on the same households that have been initially sampled.
2. REHABILITATION STRATEGY FOR THE VULNERABLE GROUPS
The general strategy for the rehabilitation of deportees is presented in the previous section. Ideally, the strategy proposed might be utilized in the rehabilitation process of the deportees in general but specific strategies are of paramount importance if designed for the most vulnerable groups - orphan, elderly and disabled.
2.1. NEEDS AND PRIORITIZES
Since orphans, the aged and the disabled are hardly able to participate and become part of respondents in an assessment that does not particularly and exclusively target them, it is difficult to capture their specific needs and priorities. Furthermore, it is believed that either the family head and/or the oldest in the family were reached during the assessment process. It has, however, been possible to acquire considerable information regarding these groups and their needs from focus group discussions, key informants, interviews and reports of studies that targeted these groups.
A simple questionnaire could be designed to specifically investigate the need of these target groups. Previous interventions of similar cases by other organizations could also be assessed to determine the type, and amount of their needs and priorities. 2.2. REHABILITATION PLANS
The preparation of a rehabilitation plan for these vulnerable groups should pay special attention to the particular physical and mental conditions of the members of the group. Since there is no homogeneity among the members of the three target groups regarding their physical and mental capacities, skills and interests, it is important to treat them accordingly. To make the planning of the intervention participatory and needs oriented, either the members of the target groups themselves or their guardians (patrons) or both should be involved in the process from the outset.
2.3. INSTITUTIONAL ARRANGEMENT
The regional Emergency Rehabilitation Office will have the capacity to undertake the determination of the number of the beneficiaries and finalized the needs assessment process. The input of organizations involved in similar interventions within the region and/or from other regions in the past could be exploited to substantiate the needs assessment.
NGOs and multilateral organizations targeting these groups have already started various types of interventions in some areas of which some are aiming at long term rehabilitation programs. For instance, in Amhara Region, Forum for Street Children Ethiopia (FSCE) Dessie branch is supporting 389 children of which 197 are under the age of five. The support includes provision of supplementary food for the under fives and school materials for the rest. UNICEF in collaboration with the Labor and Social Affairs Department of South Wollo zone has targeted 500 orphans of which it has trained 227 in various skills including hotel catering, typewriting, electricity, tailoring and auto mechanics. It has also started provision of a seed capital, equipment and furniture on loan to the trained. Hope Enterprise, Ethiopian Orthodox Church (EOC) Children's Homes, Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekan Iyesus (EECMY) and Dessie Street Children Project (DSCP) have enrolled some orphan or abandoned children in their orphanages and/or training institutions. In Tigray similar efforts are being made by various organizations including UNICEF, REST, EOC and EECMY.
Help Age International, ZOA Refuge Care, Agency for Assisting Refugees, Returnees and Disabled People (AARRDP) are also engaged in relief and rehabilitation of deportees in general and the most vulnerable in particular. These organizations are, therefore, potential partners for ERPMU to work in collaboration with in its effort to rehabilitate these particular social groups.
2.4. PROVISION OF TRAINING
It can plausibly assumed that the elderly and the disabled have some sort of training and experience. They might have already been engaged in one or another form of activites and probably need only refreshing skills and/or upgrading courses relevant to the IGS they intend to involve in. However, the orphan and abandoned or separated youth of relevant age need to be trained in new skills that will enable them start some IGS and generate income. The experiences of UNICEF/LSAD and Hope Enterprise could be good examples.
More importantly, most of the organizations involved in the rehabilitation endeavor have conducted needs assessments so as to identify viable income generating schemes and the required training that enables beneficiaries to involve in the IGS they choose although some of the assessments were conducted at post intervention period. It is, therefore, recommended that ERPMU make use of the various study reports with some adaptations and also work in collaboration with these organizations regarding the training schemes. 2.5. ORPHANS
Information obtained from secondary sources revealed that quite a number of children are either orphaned, separated from their parents during deportation or abandoned by their parents due to economic stress the deportation entailed. According to UNICEF sponsored study conducted in 1999, about 1363 children who are separated from their parents were identified in Tigray. Another study on deportees revealed that 15 deportee street children were identified in Mekelle town that are orphaned and were between 15-17 years of age.
Other studies of deportees by ZOA, FSCE and AARRDP also indicated that divorce and family disintegration is increasing among deportees living in Amhara, which implies the increasing rate of children that need immediate support and economic and psychological rehabilitation.
The special rehabilitation program should identify and exclusively focus on orphans, abandoned children (by one or both parents) and children separated from their parents/families during deportation. IG Activities identified during the assessment by the deportees are mainly not compatible to the need of the under age children. Thus, for children of less than 14 years of age, the basic and primary need is getting adequate food, proper accommodation, clothing, a school facility and basic health services.
It is, therefore, recommended that
* Attempts should be made to unite the children with their relatives in Ethiopia (if any) and provide the necessary materials, and support there (probably using the tracing service provided by the Red Cross Society to locate the relatives). If the reunion is successful, the relative/patron of the child should take all the responsibilities with regard to supporting the child/children. In cases where the child is of adequate age, this option could be assessed with him/her involvement.
* Orphan, abandoned or separated children under the age of 14 should be able to get sponsorship programs or be entrusted to orphanages and children's homes that existed in different parts of the country.
* Children who are 14 and above should be provided with appropriate training that will enable them create jobs and generate income. They should be provided with start up capital under the guardianship of close relatives or friend of the family or relevant organization. In cases of absence of a guardian a permanent accommodation should be established for this group as well.
* The provision of start up capital (or loan) should be in such a way that the guardian (individual, institution) take full responsibility to see to it that it is spent on eligible expenditures and repayments are regularly and timely made.
2.6. THE ELDERLY (AGED)
According to available information, there are about 331 elderly deportees above the age of 60 in South Wollo zone alone, while there is a feeling that more number of deportees are stationed in Tigray. The on- going census will establish the actual figure of the deportees in general and the aged in particular.
Despite the similarity in age, however, it is assumed that some of the members of this group (the elderly) are mentally active than others and are capable of managing their own business if supported and engaged in schemes of their preference. For those whose old age has impaired their capacity, however, it is recommended that
* They be provided with rehabilitation support through able bodied close relative they trust will run the intended IGS on their behalf, . The relative chosen as patron or assistant by the beneficiary should be made to vow his/her commitment and sign for the loan or support money together with the beneficiary.
* Should the aged deportee incapable of working as well as assigning a patron or assistant, he/she should be entrusted to NGOs who give support to such people.
* The planning of rehabilitation for the aged deportees should take into account experiences of NGOs such as Help Age International. Other NGOs focusing on the aged should also be contacted. ZOA Refugee Care who has planned to build 300 houses to alleviate the housing problem of deportees might also be consulted on how the housing project could involve the elderly.
* Forming an association of the elderly could be investigated so that they pull their resources together and run the business jointly or with few people. If external support may be required, this could also reduce the manpower need to run the activities. Elderly with no relative/patron and unable to get involved into any self supporting activity should be accommodated in places established for this purpose (if available). This can be done by the government or NGOs or by the collaboration of the two.
2.6. THE DISABLED
Physically disabled people are not always and necessarily incapable of working and supporting themselves. Indeed, some of them have valuable skills to depend on for their livelihood. It is, therefore, necessary that the ERPMU identify the skills, potential and interest of the disabled person(s) as a precondition for designing a rehabilitation strategy.
Accordingly, it is recommended that:
An association of the disabled could be formed so that they pull their resources together and run the business jointly or with few people. This could be viable particularly in running workshops, and other handcrafting activities. If external support may be required this could also reduce the manpower need to run the activities.
* The disabled person could name another person (a friend or relative) to run on his/her behalf the IGS he/she intends to involve in. In this case the provision of assistance money (loan) should oblige the co-signing of both the beneficiary and his relative (guardian) to comply with the requirements set. The guardian should be willing to take the responsibility of timely repayment of the loan.
In cases of failure to live up to the expectation on the part of the guardian, appropriate measures should be taken based on the wishes of the beneficiary. The disabled with no relative/patron and unable to get involved into any self supporting activity should be accommodated in places established for this purpose (if available). This can also be done by the government or NGOs or by the collaboration of the two.
The financial requirement for all the three target groups depends on which alternative is selected. Thus, a financial needs assessment should be done for all the alternatives proposed to determine the assistance. 2.7. MONITORING
Monitoring of the rehabilitation process for the most vulnerable is also a factor of the alternative selected. Thus, a clear monitoring system should be in place for all the alternatives. Monitoring could be
* Regular reports to the region's ERP on the progress of the beneficiary by the responsible, supported by constant follow-ups and visits by the ERP staff and/or relevant institutions in the area on the proper functioning of the IGS and take corrective measures if need be.
* The monitoring activity should also make sure that the disabled beneficiary is actually benefiting from the IGS and that implementation is going as per his/her wishes.
A long-term rehabilitation strategy should be investigated with the hosts of the beneficiaries (orphanages, the relatives, the family) during the monitoring process.
The Detailed Baseline Information Is Provided in the Annex Volume of This Report.