Resilience in Pastoral Areas - North
Final Report on Rapid Assessment of the Impact of COVID-19 on Peace and Social Cohesion among Pastoralists: The Case of Fafen and Siti Zones of Somali Region Ethiopia By RiPA
DISCLAIMER This Rapid assessment report is made possible by the generous support of the American people through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The contents of this Rapid assessment report are the responsibility of Mercy Corps and do not necessarily reflect the views of USAID or the United States Government.
August, 2020
Ethiopia
Table of Contents 1. INTRODUCTION ...... 1
1.1. Background ...... 1
1.2. Objectives of the Assessment ...... 3
1.3. Scope of the Assessment ...... 4
2. REVIEW OF LITERATURE ...... 5
3. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY ...... 9
3.1. Research design and approach ...... 9
3.2. Methods of Data Collection ...... 9
3.3. Methods of Sampling ...... 10
3.4. Methods of Data Analysis ...... 11
4. FINDINGS OF THE RAPID ASSESSMENT...... 12
4.1. Introduction ...... 12
4.2. COVID-19 Situation and Socio-economic Impact...... 13
4.2.1. COVID-19 Situation ...... 13
4.2.2. Knowledge and perception toward COVID-19 ...... 15
4.2.3. Socio-economic Impact of COVID-19 ...... 20
4.3. Impact of COVID-19 on Social Cohesion ...... 39
4.3.1. Characteristics of social relations ...... 39
4.3.2. Emerging social problems perceived by people due to COVID-19 pandemic 42
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4.3.3. COVID-19 & Role of CBOs in promoting social cohesion ...... 43
4.4. Conflict Situations and COVID-19 ...... 45
5. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS ...... 48
5.1. Conclusion ...... 48
5.2. Recommendations ...... 52
REFERENCES ...... 56
APPENDICES: KII and FGD Guides used in the Rapid Assessment ...... 58
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1. INTRODUCTION
1.1. Background The spread of a contagious virus said to have emerged from Hubei province of China and spread to different parts of the world caused unprecedented anomalies over all aspects of humans living in the world today. The number of people infected by COVID- 19 has reached 5,603,143 worldwide, 115,892 in Africa, and 655 cases in Ethiopia. So far, a total of 348,167 deaths has also been registered across the globe (Woldometers, May 26, 2020). The virus caused a greater threat to public health to people both in developed as well as developing world. The nature of the pandemic such as its communicability and fastest spread made governments and nations take measures that have implication on the social, economic, and political and health sectors. Different countries have designed their own containment and prevention strategies. This ranges from measures of restriction of international and regional flights and peoples' mobility, closure of borders and boundaries to declaring states of emergency and a complete as well as partial lockdown of major metropolitan cities and states. These are measures complementing the widely practiced advice of the health professionals and the WHO such as keeping personal cleanliness, social distancing and stay at home measures to be practiced by each and every individual citizen of any state.
The government of Ethiopia, as one of the countries affected by the spread of the virus, has been taking different measures to deal with and lower the harm that is posed by the pandemic. One of the main measures is the declaration of state of emergency that made key restrictions on the way people relate and the communications are managed. The aim of the state of emergency is understandably to contain and prevent the spread of the pandemic and hence save the lives of the fellow citizens of the country.
Following the directions put forth by the federal government, the respective regional governments have also been taking different measures that they deem help to minimize both the spread of COVID-19 and the risks associated with it. The effect of the COVID-
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19 pandemic is therefore being felt both at global, national and regional levels. The implications are also felt in each locality of the developing and developed societies as the economic slowdowns, lockdown measures and restrictions of mobility of peoples and goods posed greater challenge on the livelihoods of the hundreds of millions of people. According to the World Economic Forum (2020), COVID-19 related lockdown caused millions of jobs and billions of dollars to be lost by the developed and developing countries.
As a result, countries are using their own measures to cope up with the challenges posed by COVID-19. Some are struggling by allocating budgets, while others through safety nets and humanitarian efforts. Hence, what can so far be said is that the coping capacity depends on the level of development and vulnerability. The more countries are developed it is assumed that they will better cope with the economic and related effects of the pandemic.
Viewed in this light, predictions indicate that developing countries both in Latin America and Africa including Ethiopia may be severely affected by the socio-economic and public health effects of the virus. More specifically, the pastoralist and agro pastoralist communities in the country at large and of Somali region in particular would be affected socio-economically because of the COVID-19 related restrictions and lockdowns that would pose a challenge to the movement of people and goods. The economic effect would be more pronounced as livelihoods in the area have already been vulnerable owing to the multifaceted man-made challenges such as conflict and natural challenges resulted from climate change impacts of repeated drought and floods that has exacerbated the livelihoods of the pastoralist community in the region.
The pastoral areas of Ethiopia are known for their arid and semi-arid ecology characterized by intermittent, small and unpredictable amount of annual rain fall (Kemal, 2014). With climate change, droughts became a frequent phenomenon in the area with a negative impact on the livelihoods of the pastoralist communities. Within
2 this framework of the scarcity context, competition over scarce resources has become the main cause for conflict among the agro/pastoral communities who depend on the use of collective property to make a living (Wehrmann, 2017). The pastoral communities have long been marginalized groups in Ethiopia, neglected by successive Ethiopian governments who gave little or no attention to the human condition and physical and human infrastructure development of the area (Kemal, M., 2014).
Given such a context, Mercy Corps as an international, non-governmental organization working on pastoral development sought to understand the impact of COVID-19 on peace and social cohesion with the aim of designing interventions aimed at supporting the pastoral communities to be able to cope up with the problems posed by COVID-19 on such aspects. This rapid assessment was, hence, conducted by Netizen Consultancy Firm for Mercy Corps with the main aim of examining the impact of COVID-19 related restrictions and lockdown measures on peace and social cohesion among pastoral and agro-pastoral communities in Fafen and Siti Zones of Somali region.
1.2. Objectives of the Assessment
General Objective The main objective of the rapid assessment was to identify the key impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, including trigger factors that may trigger or exacerbate conflict and affect social cohesion among pastoral communities in Fafen and Siti Zones of Somali Region.
Specific Objectives The specific objectives of the assessment were:
✓ To identify impact of COVID-19 related restrictions and lockdown on mobility and day to day life of the pastoral and agro-pastoral communities ✓ To examine the implications of COVID-19 related restrictions and lockdown to peace and social cohesion among the pastoral and agro-pastoral communities in the
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study areas ✓ To identify the factors that trigger conflict and thereby adversely affect social cohesion among pastoral communities in the study areas ✓ Based on the findings of the assessment, to provide recommendations for COVID-19 specific peace building planning, including the identification of leverage points and peacebuilding messaging with clear prioritization of interventions for the next three months.
1.3. Scope of the Assessment The scope of the rapid assessment was limited to the assessment of the impact of COVID-19 on peace and social cohesion among pastoral communities in five conflict affected woredas i.e., Gursum, Babile, and Tuli-Guled Woredas in Fafen Zone, and Erer and Mulu Woredas of Siti Zone in Somali Regional State. The assessment was carried out from June 16-July 13, 2020.
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2. REVIEW OF LITERATURE
Currently, the number of people in the world who have been affected by the COVID-19 virus has passed fifteen million, with nearly a quarter of them in the United States. As of 12 April 2020, 1,780,356 COVID-19 cases, 108,828 deaths, and 404,031 recovered (Worldometer, 2020) reported in 210 countries and territories around the world.
The ongoing COVID-19 outbreak reminds that humanity does not live in isolation, nor are the various sectors of our societies walled off from one another. The pandemic that began in late 2019 and early 2020 in Wuhan, China, and quickly spread outside to Asia, to the Middle East Europe, America and Africa, and now to the world, is having a serious impact on the global welfare and economy. Experts are warning that we should be prepared for months of living with the virus, but its consequences in various aspects will last much longer, ranging from increasing the vulnerability of small businesses and disrupting global supply chains to exacerbating global tensions and local conflicts. The impact of the current health crisis includes panics that can affect international, national and local security apparatus. More generally, what a crisis of this kind does is to remind us of how difficult it is to anticipate the impacts on developments across different sectors or areas, and how important this kind of anticipation can be to preventing crises and conflicts from expanding or even occurring in the first place (Munro, 2020).
Presently, the COVID-19 outbreak has already brought considerable human suffering and major economic disruption across the world. It has taught the non-existence of developed or economic superpowers in the world in terms of COVID-19 pandemic. As a precautionary measure the whole world adopted quarantines, isolation of individuals, restrictions of move and travel banned, which negatively affected industry and service sector activities. Subsequently, the adverse consequences of these developments are significant, including the direct disruption to global supply chains, lesser demand for imported goods and services, and the wider regional declines in international tourism and business travel.
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Four months after the first case in Africa, it is clear that what started as a health crisis has turned into a socio-economic and societal crisis that is threatening the livelihood of millions on the continent. As per WHO, the best way to prevent and slow down transmission is to be well informed about the COVID-19 virus, the disease it causes and how it spreads. Individual protection and others from infection by frequent washing of hands or using an alcohol-based rub and not touching face, eyes or nose. However, health systems are weak and will not be able to cope with the severe impact of the virus. The Center for Disease Control (CDC) was quick in advising countries to close their borders and to introduce social distancing measures, which has undoubtedly saved thousands of lives (CDC, 2020). To tackle the pandemic, still, there are no specific vaccines or treatments for COVID-19.
While knowledge on the virus is evolving and responses continue to be a “work in progress”, the disease has revealed and widened gaps in social systems, with a disproportionate impact on vulnerable group of a society. Even though, it is still far too early to be able to make a reliable prognosis about the social and economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Closing schools, businesses, and ordering people to stay home, ultimately caused increasing in domestic violence, stress, uncertainty and social unrest. As governments took measures to contain the spread of the virus, it soon emerged that the lockdown imposed by many countries sometimes meant no escape from abusive partners – cases of domestic and gender-based violence were increasing (Conflict & Resilience Monitor, 2020). Thus, the pandemic is persuasive in triggering social and political tensions particularly in fragile states and is likely to put peace operations as well as humanitarian response mechanisms to a test. (Ranaraja, 2020).
In Africa, those involved in the informal economic sector and other vulnerable segments of society cannot cope with the current situation. Incidents of domestic violence have also increased. This situation is likely to worsen if the confinement policy is maintained for a long period. The situation could be further exacerbated by the political and democratic implications of the COVID-19 crisis in some countries. In many
6 cases, countries have decided to postpone elections scheduled to be held during the crisis period and beyond. Others choose to hold the elections despite the risks of spreading the virus. Many elections are scheduled in the world at large and in Africa in particular in the coming months. The way concerned governments are going to handle incoming elections will be highly sensitive with risks of political and social tensions. For instance, in South Sudan, measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19 are starting to impact on the successful implementation of the peace agreement. Compounded by earlier delays and a rise in inter-communal conflict, these further delays are adding additional pressure to an already vulnerable situation (HCNM, 2020).
In countries with ongoing humanitarian crises, the COVID-19 outbreak is creating immense pressure on the already overwhelmed social service delivery systems, exacerbating the already existing inequalities and is instigating conflict, more often certain vulnerable groups are exposed to stigma and discrimination. Besides, the economic impact, the social impact can be widespread, long lasting and devastating for countries with diversity and a history of conflict and disasters. The urban poor, migrant, internally displaced and refugee populations are especially at risk as they tend to live in overcrowded settings, making it extremely difficult to practice social distancing. These settings often also lack continuous access to water, food and sanitation services. Populations on the move will be further exposed to the disease and its social catastrophes, as basic essential and lifesaving services are hindered due to control measures, movement restrictions, border closures and discriminatory access to testing and other health services (Conflict & Resilience Monitor, 2020).
The concept of social cohesion can be discussed primarily as the extent of trust in government as its vertical dimension and trust within society as its horizontal dimension that indicates the relationship between various social groups (religious, ethnic and others also.) (HCNM, 2020).
Regarding the effects of enforced measures to control the spread of the virus, there is a
7 range of other collateral impacts that particularly affect destitute, children and women. Loss of household incomes for the poor and vulnerable (including migrant workers) affects the financial capacity of parents and caregivers to access the basic services that are essential to meeting basic needs (Stephen Reicher and Clifford Stott, 2020). Control measures that do not account for the diverse socio-economic strata may increase socio- economic risks and lead to negative coping such as conflict over available resources, early marriage or child labor. During the endemic period, youths are vulnerable in various means, such as drug-addicted to pay special care (violent behavior without drugs), illegal activities, sexual abuses (victims or committed) and even under crisis areas they are viable to terrorist groups recruitment (Ranaraja, 2020). Furthermore, a few ongoing controversial issues regarding the lack of medical equipment including masks and COVID-19 tests, the utility of using masks and the validation of the medical treatment affect the trust between citizens and their institutions (Louisa Brain, Hassan Adow et al., 2020).
Such unintended consequences may further degrade the trust of society on the government, which in turn may encourage youths to look inadvertent livelihood alternatives.
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3. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
3.1. Research design and approach
The assessment employed a cross-sectional descriptive study design. The research approach was qualitative in nature as the study aimed at rapid assessment of the impact of COVID-19 on peace and social cohesion among pastoral and agro-pastoral communities in the study areas.
3.2. Methods of Data Collection
The methods of data collection that were used to carry out the assessment were a comprehensive literature review, as well as key informant interviews (KIIs) and focus group discussions (FGDs) with selected households, women and youth groups, community leaders, clan and religious leaders, Civil Society Organizations (CSOs)as well as relevant government officials. Observation was also used to supplement the data to be generated through KII and FGD.
3.2.1. Literature Review
Relevant literature on the impact of COVID-19 related restrictions and lockdowns especially focusing on the pastoral and agro-pastoral communities in the Horn of Africa including Ethiopia and the Somali region were obtained from global and regional databases, as well as conceptual and empirical literatures published in books, journal articles, magazines, reports, and other published and unpublished sources. This helped to understand the implications of COVID-19 related restrictions to peace and social cohesion and to develop the study tools accordingly.
3.2.2. Key Informant Interview
Key informant interviews were carried out with selected key informants from the pastoral and agro-pastoral communities, clan leaders and elders, women and youths,
9 relevant government offices, as well as Civil Society Organizations working in the study areas. In consideration of the variety of key informants to be contacted in each area, 5 key informant interviews (KII) were conducted in each of the five study Woredas. A total of 25 KIIs were, hence, carried out.
The data was collected using qualified researchers through the assistance of translators and facilitators. The responses of key informants and FGD participants were tape recorded after securing their consent and notes also were taken by the interviewers and moderators, respectively.
3.2.3. Focus Group Discussion (FGD)
The FGDs, on other hand, were conducted with different groups consisting of members from selected government officials, members who represented the pastoralists/agro- pastoralists, members who consisted of the community leaders, members formed by representatives of the civil society organizations and other stakeholders. Two FGDs (One with government officials and CSOs, and one with community members) were conducted in each study Woreda focusing on the impact of COVID-19 on peace and social cohesion among pastoral and agro-pastoral communities. The number of participants per FGD varied from 4-6 participants.
3.2.4. Observation Purposive observations were used to complement the data obtained through KII and FGDs.
3.3. Methods of Sampling The study sites were the Woredas identified as conflict affected Woredas by Mercy Corps i.e., Gursum, Babile, Tuli-Guled, Mulu, and Erer Woredas which are located in Fafen and Siti Zones of Somali Region. The key informants and FGD participants in each Woreda were all selected using purposive sampling on the basis of their knowledge and experience.
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3.4. Methods of Data Analysis
The collected data were transcribed, organized into themes, and analyzed using thematic analysis and narratives.
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4. FINDINGS OF THE RAPID ASSESSMENT
4.1. Introduction
This section presents the analysis and interpretation of the data collected from the five study Woredas, namely Gursum, Babile, and Tuli-Guled Woredas in Fafen Zone, and Mulu and Erer Woredas of Siti Zone, using Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) and Key Informant Interviews (KIIs) in order to address the objectives of the rapid assessment. A total of 10 FGDs (2 in each Woreda), and 25 KIIs (5 in each Woreda) were conducted with government officials, members of the respective communities including clan and religious leaders, women, youth, pastoralists and agro-pastoralists, traders and CSOs. The summary of the number of FGDs and KIIs conducted and the number of participants in each Woreda is presented in table 4.1. Below.
Table 4.1. Summary of the number FGDs and KIIs conducted
Zone Woreda Methods of Data Collection Total FGDs KIIs Number FGD Number of of FGDs participants KIIs
Fafen Zone Gursum 2 12 5 17 Babile 2 10 5 15 Tuli-Guled 2 10 5 15 Siti Zone Mulu 2 8 5 13 Erer 2 8 5 13 Total 10 48 25 73
The data collected through the FGDs and KIIs is analyzed and interpreted in the upcoming sections.
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4.2. COVID-19 Situation and Socio-economic Impact
4.2.1. COVID-19 Situation
COVID-19 has infected 15,116,908, and claimed the lives of 620,033 across the globe (Worldometers, July 22, 2020). As of 4 August 2020, a total of 968,020 COVID-19 cases and 20,612 deaths have been reported in 55 African countries. This is 5% of all cases reported globally (Africa CDC, 2020: 1). COVID-19 in Ethiopia, a total of 7,766 COVID-19 confirmed cases and 128 deaths have been reported as of July 12, 2020. Out of these, 549 cases are in Somali Region (PHEOC, 2020).
The assessment findings revealed that at the time of data collection, (i.e. in the month of July to august 2020) no positive cases of COVID-19 were reported in the study Woredas. However, suspected cases were sent to Jigjiga University (JJU) quarantine and COVID- 19 diagnostic center for confirmation. The Woredas that have sent suspected cases to JJU quarantine center were Gursum, Babile and Tuli-Guled. Though no cases were reported in the study Woredas, there are a number of exposing factors and conditions. The passing of people from different areas through the main road as well as milk and khat trade are identified to be the main exposing factors in Gursum Woreda. The passengers often come into contact with the local community when they buy milk, peanut and other goods. The khat trade, on the other hand, is mentioned by the FGD participants in Gursum Woreda as one crucial exposing factor arguing that 'Khat passes through different actors, may be more than 50, from farm to its sale to the user'. The presence of returnees from Somali, Djibouti and/or other countries is also an additional risk factor to COVID-19 in the same Woreda. The exposing factors to COVID-19 in Babile Woreda, on the other hand, were the presence of many market places where people interact with one another for exchange of goods without keeping proper social distance, returnees coming from abroad and the proximity of the Woreda to areas known to be susceptible to the spread of the COVID-19 due to the coming together of people from different areas. The susceptible or vulnerable areas which may lead to the
13 spread of the COVID-19 in the woreda are identified as Kora, Fiqh, Midhaga, and Kulmiye. Besides that, the Koloji Internally Displaced Person (IDP) camp is also reported as one of the vulnerable areas due to the crowded situation and the presence of people coming to the camp to provide various services to the IDPs including the Non-Governmental organizations, the local community who are relatives of some of the refuges and other individuals who visit the camp for different reasons. In this regard, the Woreda Administration reported that around 15 cases were reported in Gemechu village, which is adjacent to the Woreda. Similarly, in Tuli-Guled Woreda, the factors identified as exposing factors were the illegal gathering of people in weddings and funeral ceremonies, and the presence of individuals coming from neighboring countries mainly Djibouti, Somaliland, and Somalia without the mandatory travel related quarantine. Moreover, the situation of people displaced by conflict in the Woreda is said to be highly worrisome and risky given the lack of basic necessities and overcrowding in their settlements. In Mulu Woreda of Siti Zone, the presence of COVID-19 positive cases at Zonal level, and the neighboring Woredas like Dire Dawa, and the presence of people coming from Djibouti are mentioned as exposing factors. The government officials in the same Woreda stressed that many people come into local markets during market days from adjacent Woredas of Oromia Region mainly Badessa, Mechara as well as from other parts of the country and they interact with one another without keeping social distance and using masks. This has created an evident sense of fear for the spread of COVID-19 in the area. Furthermore, the fact that Erer Woreda shares borders with some Woredas of Oromia region and the presence of positive COVID-19 Cases in nearby towns namely Dobole and Diredawa are mentioned as the main risk factors for the spread of the virus.
To sum up this, the presence of people passing through these areas having contact with the local people for different purposes; the coming of people from neighboring countries like Djibouti, Somaliland, and Somalia without attending the quarantine ; the coming together of people from different areas in market places for exchange;
14 attendance of people in wedding and funeral ceremonies without making the necessary precautions; the sale of various goods like milk and khat; proximity to areas known to have positive COVID-19 cases; and the crowded and vulnerable situation in IDP sites and temporary shelters of conflict displaced people were said to be the main factors that may lead to the spread of the COVID-19 in the study Woredas. This should be understood in light of the custom of the pastoral Somalis who lead a way of life with a strong inter communal ties and relations manifest in the day to day interaction of societies in the study area.
4.2.2. Knowledge and perception toward COVID-19
The findings indicate that people obtain information about the corona pandemic from different sources including TV, radio, social media, the internet, the Woreda administrations, health experts, religious and clan leaders, Jigjiga University and other Medias. Regarding this, participants singled out Somali Regional Television (SRTV) and BBC radio Somali program as main television information outlet that most provided relevant information. According to most of the informants people depend on these news outlets because of accessibility than choice. As such, people in this rural area tend to question the credibility of the information’s disseminated through the aforementioned channels regarding the pandemic. The accessibility of television programs is limited due to the absence of power supply in remote areas of the study Woredas. As a result, radio programs are found to be the main sources of information to the pastoral and agro-pastoral communities. The youth and those who have internet access on their cell phones, on the other hand, obtain information about COVID-19 through social media mainly Facebook and Google. In this regard, a key informant interviewed in Mulu Woreda has said 'the world is in our hand, we get information from mobile devices i.e., the internet. It is not a hidden issue today'.
Moreover, the awareness creation efforts being made by the government officials of each Woreda are also found to be the main sources of information for the study
15 communities. To strength the awareness creation activities, prevent the spread of the virus and to disseminate acquired information in many of the study Woredas, different committees are established. For instance, the Gursum Woreda Administration has established a total of 12 committees (including youth, women and elders) and deployed them into the kebeles and sub-kebeles in the woreda to teach the people about the COVID-19 pandemic and the necessary pre-cautions that should be made to prevent the spread of the virus. Similarly, Babile Woreda Administration has also set various committees including Health Committee, Fund Mobilizing Committee, Command Post Committee to carry out awareness creation activities, mobilize fund for economic support, and enforce the COVID-19 related restrictions. Besides the awareness creation endeavors, some participants mentioned the trainings offered at Zonal or Regional levels as sources of information to them about the COVID-19. The religious and clan leaders were also played pertinent role in disseminating information and creating awareness about COVID-19 to the study communities, both through participating in campaigns and independently. In substantiating this, a key informant interviewee in Gursum Woreda mentioned that ‘the religious and clan leaders are engaged in awareness creation campaigns by moving from place to place'. Another key informant in Tuli-Guled Woreda made a similar statement when he said 'the clan and religious leaders are closely working with the Woreda administration. They are teaching the public about the seriousness of the corona pandemic. They are telling the people about prevention mechanisms, as the disease is not curable'. Besides the aforementioned sources, Jigjiga University is mentioned as source of information about COVID-19 in some Woredas namely Gursum and Tui-Guled Woredas. They reported that a team of experts were sent to their respective Woredas to teach the public about the COVID-19 pandemic.
The FGD participants and key informant interviewees were also asked about their understanding of the COVID-19. Accordingly, many of the study participants described the COVID-19 as God sent, first originated in China, world level, dangerous, and fatal
16 disease even worse than HIV/AIDs. Participants described the pandemic as a curse from God sent to punish people who transgress on others and His good wills. Besides that, the pandemic has been depicted by participants as something emanated from China but, then, spread and threatening the entire world. In this regard, three key informants interviewed in Mulu Woreda said 'COVID is a world level pandemic which killed thousands of people throughout the world. It invaded the world people affecting the economy and the health sector'. The FGD participants in the same Woreda also added that 'COVID-19 is a disease that happened this year. It is a disease first reported to happen from China. It is a pandemic that affected the world and is happening at the global arena.'
Similarly, a key informant interviewed in Gursum Woreda said that "we follow up daily updates about COVID-19 across the world. The world has come under lockdown and restrictions. You cannot even go to Babile from Gursum without checkup at different centers on your way". Another description given by the participants to COVID-19 is dangerous and fatal disease. In this case, FGD participants in Babile Woreda raised the USA case as an example to show its danger and fatal nature, by saying 'hundreds of thousands of people have died of the virus, while millions are infected in USA. They were not able to stop the death of their citizens, while they have many medical professors and specialists, and plenty of equipment’s and facilities'. The pandemic is also described as something worse than HIV/AIDS FGD participants in Gursum and Babile Woreda. For instance, a participant said that ' HIV has previously resulted in social stigma at its early days, however, COVID-19 is worse than HIV/AIDS. This is because HIV will not affect those who do not reach to it (i.e., indulge in unprotected sexual intercourse), but this pandemic affects all.' In this regard, FGD participants in Gursum, Tuli-Guled, Mulu Woreda explained the disease by saying that 'this disease doesn't distinguish between people. It affects all; be it the poor, the rich, women and men etc'. Given this nature of the pandemic, some others described the pandemic as
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'just' since it affects all groups alike; the poor, the rich, the beautiful, the ugly, doctors etc'.
Regarding the ways through which COVID-19 spreads, the study participants see close interaction, hand shaking, droplets from sneezes of an infected person, and lack of sanitation as exposing factors to COVID-19. Supplementing this, FGD participants in Mulu and Erer Woreda mentioned that:
COVID-19 spreads when infected person sneezes, as the disease will be disseminated into the environment and can easily transfer to people exposed to the droplet via breathing or touching it. It also transmits when people hand shake or chat with one another in closer distance.
It can, hence, be said that the study participants had basic understanding about the COVID-19 pandemic and the mechanisms of its spread. Many of them have also stated that they are trying their best to prevent themselves and their families from the COVID- 19 pandemic through practicing various precautions like staying at home, avoiding hand shaking, keeping social distances including avoidance of gatherings like wedding, funerals and market places to the extent possible. Study participants also noted that some people are reluctant in implementing the necessary preventive measures like social distancing during public gatherings, wearing masks, hand washing etc. The lack of water supply, lack of money to buy masks and sanitizers, and misperceptions are mentioned as factors behind the reluctance of community members. Shortage of water supply has been raised as a great bottleneck to practice hand washing in all the study Woredas. On the other hand, a clan leader who participated in an FGD discussion at Gursum Woreda said that 'when we teach people to make necessary precautions they usually request us to provide them with the necessary materials including face mask and sanitizers. But we are not able to do so'. This view has been reflected by many FGD participants and key informant interviews conducted in all the study Woredas. The FGD participants in Gursum Woreda, for instance, noted that 'those who sell milk earn
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100 birr by selling 3 liters of milk, while a hand sanitizer of 100-200 ml is worth 80-100 birr. People are, hence, in difficult situation as they cannot buy such protection items extra to their basic necessities'. Another crucial factor for reluctance of community members was said to be misperception regarding COVID-19. The misperception mentioned by participants in all Woredas is some community members’ belief that COVID-19 will not affect Muslims’. On the other hand, some members of the community reject the introduction of restrictions on public gathering arguing that 'mosques are a place of asylum and refugee for people who fear the impact of disasters/pandemics, not a place to far away from’. It follows therefore that people should not be prevented from visiting place of worship and prayers. In this regard, firstly the absence of any reported positive COVID-19 cases in the study Woreda is being used as a justification for their stand among those who hold the aforementioned misperceptions. Secondly, almost 100 % of the population in the study weredas are adherents of Islamic faith and there was no body, group or authority that stood against the arguments and no problem was reported in this regard. In relation to this, during the field visit the study team observed that people were making gathering to make prayer (Salah) in mosques.
The observation of the researchers also supports this finding. During field work, the researchers have observed that the practice of necessary precautions to prevent the spread of COVID-19 is limited. Especially, the number of people wearing face masks is highly limited.
To this end, there is still a need for strengthening awareness raising efforts at grassroots level in order to enhance the level of understanding of the members of the study communities about the nature of the pandemic and the precautions that need to be taken to prevent the spread of the virus. There is also a need to engage religious leaders in awareness creation campaigns in order to reverse the misconceptions among some community members that may create conducive conditions to the spread of the COVID- 19 in the larger community. Besides this, the local governments need to strive to
19 improve the water supply and the provision of precautionary equipment’s like sanitizers and face masks in their respective Woredas to those who do not afford to buy those items.
4.2.3. Socio-economic Impact of COVID-19
Most of the households in the study Woredas depend on agro-pastoralism as the main source of livelihood. They mainly produce maize, wheat, sorghum, peanut and beans, vegetables and fruits; in addition to rearing different species of animals including camel, sheep, goat and cattle. Men are engaged in farming, while women often participate in small scale trade activities.
The lockdown and restrictions imposed by the government in order to prevent and control the spread of COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in a number of socio-economic problems. People are in a lockdown and are facing livelihood crisis. The effects might be both direct and indirect. The agro-pastoralists and pastoralists usually take livestock and crops to the market and exchange them for the goods and items they need. The lockdown is, however, seriously affecting the trade and economic activities thereby affecting the income and livelihood of the local people as a whole and with a particularly severe impact on the women headed householders and women with orphan children’s similarly, the FGD participants in Gursum Woreda described the multifaceted impact of COVID-19 as overarching. It affected the community in different extent, due to the lockdown, some are facing food shortage. People such as daily laborers engaged in such activities as loading and unloading, carry small goods from place to place who used to live by daily earned incomes for were particularly affected by the COVID-19 related restriction on mobility, advise for staying at home and social distancing measures introduced and loosely implemented in the area. In substantiating this, FGD participants in Gursum Woreda have clearly explained how individuals who have some money are surviving the difficult situation than those who do not have
20 saving and depend on daily income. Regarding this, main socio-economic consequences people faced due to COVID-19 pandemic includes the following:
4.2.2.1. Decline in trade and economic activities
Most of the study participants mentioned the decline of trade and economic activities in their respective areas as the most crucial effect of COVID-19 related restrictions and lockdown. FGD participants in Gursum Woreda described the effect in this regard by saying that 'the business of traders has declined. Traders who were trading vegetable and fruits by bringing it from Babile are not able to trade the same now. The items have become expensive. No market for livestock and other items'. A key informant interviewed in the same Woreda also added that 'people are suffering because of the lockdown. Economic activities are not as usual'. Likewise, a key informant interviewed in Babile Woreda said 'we are staying at home since we heard about the virus. Farming and trade activities have declined. Many households are in a problem'. The FGD participants in Tuli-Guled Woreda also raised a similar point when they said 'Trade activities have declined due to restriction of movements. There were exchanges (both from and to the Woreda), but now all have declined'. A key informant in the same Worda also described the decline in trade activities in the following terms 'the impact of COVID-19 is pervasive. People who used to trade different goods by moving from place to place including Tog-wuchale and Jigjiga have now stayed at home'. The FGD participants in Erer Woreda also admitted the impact of COVID-19 on trade and economic activities saying that:
It has a big impact on the people who are dependents on the value chain of vegetables and beverages production and selling. There is change in the economic aspect of the Woreda after COVID-19 mainly in the form of slowdown in demand side. The economy is falling down. People in this Woreda are producers and as such they have lost buyers to their products and the market chain has been disrupted by the COVID- 19 impact creating big problem on the local economy and businesses. The buyers who
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used to come from Addis Ababa, Hargesa and Jigjiga are not coming to buy fruits. So the market has totally fallen down due to lack of buyers because of the COVID-19 related lockdown.
Similarly, the FGD participants in Mulu Woreda also stated that:
After the COVID-19, there is change in the economic aspect of the Woreda that trading with Dire Dawa and Addis Ababa is not as it was before. The livestock market center in Mulu Woreda was a hub connecting different buyers but now it is affected badly because buyers are not coming as because of COVID-19. So, pastoralists lost their benefit and price for their livestock has fallen sharply. The livestock market center in Mulu Woreda has completely lost its activities after COVID-19.
A key informant interviewed in Erer Woreda further strengthened this point when he said the following:
Yes, the buyers are missing. Transportation cost has increased so much that mobility is curtained with effect on goods and services supply. The daily laborers have lost their jobs. The traders’ number has drastically diminished affecting the demand side of the local market. The result is that the fruits have lost buyers and are thrown out when rotten because of lack of transportation and buyers. This has caused bankruptcy. If fruits are not sold on time then the tree becomes useless, can’t regenerate and provide produce.
There is, hence, a decline of trade and overall economic activities as a result of COVID- 19 related lockdown and restrictions. A unique stand against this conclusion is only reflected by a key informant interviewed in Mulu Woreda, saying; 'Corona didn't have that much effect on the local economy here at then owing to the fact that it was too early for Covid to make such impact on the local economy'. This argument, however, have
22 any factual intuition, given the many manifestations of COVID-19 and its ramification economic and trade activities.
4.2.2.2. Decline in the supply of goods in local markets
Many of the FGD participants and key informants have raised the decline in supply of goods in local markets as one of the effects of COVID-19 related restrictions and lockdown. This is partly due to the decline of trade activities resulting from lockdown of borders especially the one with Somaliland, i.e., Tog-wuchale town, and the restricted movement of traders’ mainly small scale and informal ones. Small scale traders used to bring different goods including food items to their respective Woredas, but now their activities are limited after the corona pandemic. There is also confiscation of goods at checkpoints. The FGD Participants in Gursum Woreda, for instance, said that 'small scale traders are also facing problems to pass the check points.. The findings from Mulu and Erer Woredas are, on the other hand, contradictory to this point. The FGD participants in the two Woredas raised following points:
The local economy has been thrived based on trading of commodities like sugar and edible oil, food items and supplies and exchanges of food items and beverages such as khat with Oromia region. These sectors are not much affected due to COVID-19 pandemic so far. The livestock market is not also affected much because of the low level of awareness by the local people about the measures introduced and restrictions following COVID-19. So people are not responding to the stimuli associated with COVID-19 they are just doing things as it is. Nor does supplies of goods and commodities has showed decline due to COVID-19.
This might be an indication of Zonal differences in the supply of goods. Most of the food items like rice, pasta, macaroni, sugar, wheat flour, oil etc to the Woredas located in Fafen Zone are brought by traders from the border town, namely Tog-wuchale town, and Jigjiga City. The supply of such goods has now declined as the business of small scale and informal traders has decreased due to the lock down of the border and
23 resultant restrictions on movement of people. The Woredas located in Siti Zone, on other hand, might not depend on border towns for supply of food and non-food items as the Woredas in Fafen Zone do.
4.2.2.3. Decreased demand for livestock and agricultural products
The decline in the demand for livestock and agricultural products was also mentioned as one of the economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic related lockdown and restrictions. In this regard, FGD participants in Gursum Woreda described the problem as follows:
People were free to move from place to place before the emergence of COVID-19. Farmers used to come to towns to sell what they have and buy goods and items they needed. They were even able to borrow from someone if their livestock or goods are not sold. Nowadays, there is no demand for livestock. You may borrow money from either traders or relatives. But they cannot continue to lend you money as they themselves do not afford to do so because of the decline in their businesses.
A similar point was also raised by FGD participants in Babile Woreda when they said 'people are staying at home and they consumed what they have. There is also less demand to livestock as people do not have money to spend on it'. The same participants have also indicated the decline of markets for khat stating that ‘for women who were trading khat, the market has declined. They cannot sell the quantity that they used to sell in a day'. The FGD participants in Tuli-Guled Woreda further strengthened this point by saying that ‘living expenses have risen. The price of food items, fuel, transportation has escalated. All what we need has become expensive, while the demand and price of what we own has declined. This is a great problem'. Moreover, the FGD participants have also raised a similar point when they said:
COVID-19 has shut down the whole market value chain. It affected the livelihoods of the pastoralists as the markets have slowdown and buyers are not coming to the
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locality to buy livestock. Lack of market for livestock and increase of prices of goods due to slowdown of the business affected people living on daily subsistence.
A key informant interviewed in Babile Woreda also added that 'we are being told to stay at home and take necessary pre-cautions. There is less demand for livestock including goats. If we take goats into market, we would sell them at low prices or even return them home due to absence of buyers'.
It, hence, becomes crystal clear that there is a decline in the demand for livestock and other agricultural products. This makes people to sell their livestock and other products at a relatively low price, while the price of the items they need to buy in the market is high. This imbalance in income and expenditure would lead to livelihood crisis among pastoralists and agro-pastoralists.
4.2.2.4. Rise in cost of living due to escalation of prices for food and non-food items
The impact of the COVID-19 related lockdown and restrictions is highly felt among the pastoral and agro-pastoralist communities in the form of rise in cost of living following the escalation of prices of both food and non-food items. In this regard, FGD participants in Gursum Woreda mentioned that 'the price of food items like pasta, macaroni, wheat flour, oil was relatively good before the pandemic. It has escalated nowadays'. The same group of participants also added 'The price of goods has escalated nowadays. People depend on agro-pastoralism. Women often sell milk and buy different items they need. But now, they cannot do so as prices of pasta, sugar, rice have risen while the milk price is not'. A key informant interviewed in the same Woreda also noted that 'the trade and economic activities have come to zero. Living expenses have risen. The price of rice has increased from 200 to 700 birr, oil from 150 to 400 birr, onion from 20 to 50 birr per kilo'. The FGD participants in Babile Woreda also mentioned a similar case when they said 'living expenses went up. The good that costs 200 has
25 become 400 birr, one that costs 500 birr has become 700, the item that costs seven hundred has become 1000 birr'. They also added that 'the food prices and transportation cost have escalated. The community cannot afford such an exaggerated cost'. A key informant in the same Woreda had also expressed the problem this way 'the pandemic lockdown lead to expensiveness in cost of living. Markets are limited. The price of food items like onion and tomato has increased. Transportation cost has risen.' Likewise, the FGD participants in Tuli-Guled Woreda have described the rise in cost of living in the following way:
There is escalation in the cost of living. Price of food items has increased. A package of onion which was 1200 birr before becomes 1500 birr. Transportation cost for a package of rice has become 200 birr from 50 birr. The expensiveness of living has created difficulties on the livelihood of people.
The situation in Mulu and Erer Woredas of Erer Zone is not also different from the aforementioned three Woredas located in Fafen Zone. In this regard, the FGD participants in Mulu and Erer Woredas have reflected a similar problem saying that 'some goods are showing a slight price increase. There is increase in price of goods. For example, 1 kilogram sugar has been 30 birr before, but now it increased to 35 birr.'
The rise in cost of living induced by the escalation of prices for food and non-food items is, hence, greatly affecting the livelihood of pastoralists and agro-pastoralists in the study areas. This coupled with the low demand and price for livestock and agro- pastoralists poses a serious challenge to them. A key informant interviewed in Babile has described this imbalance when he said 'previously, the money obtained from the sale of a goat would be used to buy lots of food and other items. But now, the amount of money obtained from sale of 4 to 5 goats itself would not buy much goods and items.' If this trend continues for long, it would lead to the decline of the asset of the pastoralists and agro-pastoralists in the study areas.
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4.2.2.5. Rise in transportation cost and lesser availability of transportation services
One of the restrictions imposed as part of the COVID-19 pandemic prevention measures is a limit placed on the loading capacity of public transport vehicles where they are expected to reduce their loading by half. This restriction coupled with the decline of trade and economic activities as well as movement of people in fear of the COVID-19 has led to both lesser availability of transportation services and an increase in transportation cost. The FGD participants in Gursum Woreda described the problem by saying that ‘previously people were able to trade peanut and other goods taking them into Babile and Harar etc. But now the transportation price has risen by double and more.' A government official interviewed in Babile Woreda also mentioned the transportation related problem by stating that 'ISUZU cars are used for public transportation because the absence of public transport services in the area due to road inconvenience. Previously the ISUZU cars used to transport up to 50 people, we now reduced the number to 10.' This would have a clear implication both for the lack of transportation services and increase on the transportation costs. The situation in Tuli- Guled Woreda is not also different from the condition of Babile Woreda. The FGD participants in Babile Woreda explained the transportation problem this way
Transportation services are interrupted. People cannot get transport service when they wanted. The transportation services that were available on a daily basis can now be obtained only on a weekly basis. Transportation cost has increased and become less affordable to many given the challenge posed by COVID-19.
The FGD participants in Mulu Woreda also noted a similar problem when they said 'transportation cost increased and limited affecting daily life'.
As it can be learned from the responses of both FGD participants and key informants in the study Woredas, there is a problem of availability of transportations services as well
27 as an increase in the transportation costs. The transport problem is relatively severe in Babile and Tuli-Guled Woredas as their is difficulty in getting transport services at the required time besides the increase in the transportation cost. The problem becomes an additional burden to the pastoralists and agro-pastoralists in the study areas.
4.2.2.6. Lack of supply and increase in the price of farm inputs
The study participants have raised the problem of lack of supply of farm input like seeds and fertilizer in local markets. Besides that, the agro-pastoralists complained that they do not afford to pay for the seeds, fertilizer, and tractor rent due to the escalation of prices on the one hand and the deterioration of the income of agro-pastoralists on the other. This is resulting in the decline of farm activities in some study Woredas. In this regard, FGD participants in Gursum Woreda mentioned the situation saying that 'it is now time for farming. But the agro-pastoralists do not have money to pay for seeds, fertilizers, tractors and other farm input. Besides that there is lack of supply of farm input in the local market. As a result, the farm activities are not as usual'. FGD participant in Tuli-Guled Woreda also stated a similar point by saying that 'COVID-19 affected farming in different ways. People are not farming as they do not afford to pay for tractor rent which has increased from 200 birr/hour to 300 birr/hour. There is a need for assistance in farming and basic food supply'. Besides the lack of supply and increase in the price of farm input, delay of rain fall and inter-ethnic conflict that ravaged the area for a couple of years in the last decade have contributed to the decline of farm activities. For instance, a key informant interviewed in Tuli-Guled Woreda said 'the livelihood of the community depends on agro-pastoralism. There was no farming during the last four years due to the conflict that has happened between the neighboring Weredas of the Somali and Oromia region due to competition over controlling of scarce natural resource of water and pasture as well as politically motivated disputes. COVID-19 has not affected the farming practice. Farming is not yet started because of the conflict and lack of rain in the area'. A key informant interviewed in Gursum Woreda also added a similar point when said 'There is un-timeliness of
28 rainfall. This makes it difficult for farmers to cultivate.' A government official interviewed in Tuli-Guled Woreda also described the influence of conflict on farm activities in the following way 'About 85% of the community are agro-pastoralists. Before three years, the agro-pastoralists produced 920,000 quintal of crops on 122,000 hectares of land. Agricultural production has been, however, greatly affected due to the conflict in the area during the past three years'.
It can, hence, be understood that there is a decline of farm activities in some study Woredas due to lack of farm input, delay of rain, and conflict. The delay of rain coupled with lack of supply of farm input and a resultant increase in their prices has led to decline in farm activities in Gursum Woreda. In Tuli-Guled Woreda, however, conflict with neighboring Oromia Woreda of Chinaksen is the major obstacle for farming activities along with delay of rain and increase in the price of farm input and tractor rent. The decline of farm activities would have a serious implication on food security during the next year.
4.2.2.7. Locust outbreak in some Woredas
This problem is not directly associated with COVID-19. But, it is a problem that the pastoralists and agro-pastoralists in some Woredas are facing, which on top of the socio-economic problems discussed here would exacerbate the livelihood crisis among pastoralists and agro-pastoralists. The FGD participants in Babile Woreda have expressed the challenge posed by the locust outbreak in the following terms
Locust outbreak is another serious problem affecting the livelihood of the agro- pastoralists. Though the agro-pastoralists tried to cultivate maize and other crops, resisting the challenges posed by COVID-19, their crops and even grazing are being eaten out by locusts. The locust has affected all areas; it has become severe especially in 17 kebeles. Grazing lands and crops are all affected by the locust outbreak. The locust has affected Dawa, Shebele, Fafen and other areas before it comes to our area. Though there is an effort to control the outbreak via chemical spray using one plane,
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it fails to reach in time and to all the affected areas. As the plane comes from Semera, the locust results in a significant damage before the plane reaches into the area and sprays chemicals.
A government official interviewed in the same Woreda also raised the same point when he said 'locust outbreak affects the crops and grazing in the Woreda..' The locus outbreak is, hence, threatening the livelihood of the pastoralists and agro-pastoralists in the Woreda. An agro-pastoralist who had participated in an FGD discussion in the same Woreda elaborated that people are afraid to come together to fight the locust infestation for fear of catching the novel pandemic known as Corona virus. He said that 'previously, we used to control it (the locust infestation) by coming together and using sound instruments. But now, everyone is afraid and we do not do the same to control the outbreak. We relied on the government actions'. As a result, 'the locust infestation has endangered food security among agro-pastoralists' in the area, as one of the key informants in the same Woreda has noted. In addition to Babile Woreda, the locust outbreak has also affected crops and grazing in Tuli-guled Woreda. A government official interviewed in Tuli-Guled Woreda has described the problem by saying ‘locust outbreak has affected the crops and only 20 quintals were produced this year'. The locust outbreak has become an additional bottleneck to agricultural production in Tuli- Guled Woreda besides the long lasting conflict in the area.
Agricultural production in Babile and Tuli-Guled Woredas is, hence, at a great risk and may lead to food security crisis, if the government and other stakeholders do not take necessary measures in time.
4.2.2.8. Displacement caused by conflict and road construction
Displacement of people has been reported in three Woredas, namely Babile, Tuli-Guled and Mulu. The displacement in Babile Woreda is caused by road construction which was underway during the data collection. The FGD participants in the same Woreda
30 have described the problem saying that 'People are displaced due to road construction that passes through Dhendema town (the Woreda capital) and they are in a problem. They are not given compensation. Their houses are demolished and they are displaced from their land without replacement'. These are information’s given by respondents of the study and are however hard to support by empirical data on numbers of peoples affected. A key informant in the same Woreda has also strengthened this point when she said 'houses are being demolished at this difficult time for the purpose of road construction. Displaced people are in a problem'. The challenge posed by displacement on the displaced households was further elaborated by a key informant in the aforementioned Woreda as follows:
People are displaced from their houses and left without any compensation or support. For instance, a recently widowed woman has gave birth to a child these days and we were worried about where to take her. Her house has been already demolished and there were no rooms for rent in the town.
The condition of the displaced people is, hence, worrisome and needs attention. The government should verify their complaints about the forceful eviction without compensation and take the required corrective measures.
The displacement in Tuli-Guled and Mulu Woredas, on the other hand was induced by conflict in the areas. A key informant interviewed in the Tuli-Guled Woreda, for instance, said 'many houses were burnt down resulting in displacement of households from both the Geri and Jarso clan groups representing the Somali and Oromo Ethnic groups respectively'. There were many displaced households due to the persistent conflict in the areas which has calmed down only before two weeks from the data collection period following the peace agreements reached between the two Woredas. The FGD participants in that Woreda had also described the case by saying:
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Many households in various kebeles were displaced by conflict, they are not settled. This pandemic has become an extra burden on them. People who were in a livelihood crisis due to conflict have faced extra problems due to COVID-19 related lockdown and restrictions. Some have returned to their prior areas without any provision of basic necessities like shelter, food, water etc.
Similarly, there are internally displaced Ethnic Somali people in Mulu Woreda due to conflicts that ravaged the area as the Oro-Somali groups were fighting in this area in the past years over boundary and resource related interest and issues. The case of displaced people, hence, needs attention and they need to be provided with relief and livelihood support in order to be able to cope up with the multifaceted challenges that they are struggling with in the face of COVID-19 related lockdown and restrictions.
4.2.2.9. Lack of water, health, and education facilities
This problem relates to the existing socio economic level of development in the pastoral area best characterized by marginalization The lack of basic facilities like water supply, education and health were also among the challenges being faced by the study communities. The water supply problem was raised by the study participants in all the study Wordas’ and with the emergency of the pandemic then the problems felt more than it used to be. For instance, the FGD participants in Gursum Woreda told that 'there is water supply problem in Bombas. People are fetching water from nearby river thereby exposing themselves to the virus due to long queues'. A key informant interviewed in Babile Woreda, on the other hand, has indicated that the water supply problem can lead to disputes as well saying that 'lack of water supply can lead to temporary disputes, on queues'.
The situation in Tuli-Guled Woreda is somewhat different from the others as people lack not only water supply facilities, but also education and health facilities due to the persistent conflict in the area during the last three years. FGD participants have
32 explained the lack of basic facilities for the people displaced by conflict in the following way:
The conflict persisted for more than three years. About 46 schools, 14 human health posts, 1 health center, 5 animal health posts, and a number of birkads and water points were destroyed. Many people have died and displaced. Their houses and property are destroyed. As a result, people are left with no health, school, and water services and even shelter.
The shortage of water supply in many of the study areas, hence, creates an exposure to the virus due to long queues posing a great challenge among the community to practice hand washing and basic sanitation as part of their efforts to protect themselves from the COVID-19 pandemic. The Tuli-Guled Woreda's case is, however, exceptional as many water, education and health facilities were destroyed by the conflict in the area. There is, thus, a need for reconstruction of such facilities in the Woreda, while trying to improve the water supply conditions in other study Woredas.
4.2.2.10. Unusual rate of mosquito inbreeding
Unusual level of mosquito inbreeding has been reported in Gursum Woreda. FGD participants have described the problem saying that:
Malaria was common in the Woreda before. But currently there is an alarming rate of mosquito inbreeding in the Woreda. People fail to look after individuals suffering from Malaria, as its symptoms are similar with that of COVID-19. People consider malaria patients as victims of COVID-19.
Given the prime attention of the government and other stakeholders on COVID-19, malaria is feared to affect many people in the Woreda as timely interventions are not being taken to control the mosquito inbreeding before it causes high rate of malaria cases. Besides that, there is a tendency of avoiding or stigmatizing malaria patients
33 suspecting that they are infected by COVID-19 given the similarity of symptoms (especially fever) of malaria with COVID-19. There is, hence, a need to pay due attention to the problem and take necessary actions to halt the mosquito inbreeding and prevent the people from being infected with malaria.
4.2.2.11. Lack of emergency relief and livelihood support
The study communities are facing numerous socio-economic challenges due to COVID- 19 restrictions lockdown, and some other factors, of poor level of social and economic development as discussed in prior sections. Despite the multifaceted nature of the problems faced by the pastoralists and agro-pastoralists, most of the study participants complained about the lack of support in the form of either emergency relief or livelihood support both from the government and other stakeholders including NGOs. In this regard, the FGD participants in Gursum Woreda stated that
There were no diseases as worse as this one. People are told to stay home. But the government is not supplying food and other basic necessities as the government of some developed countries' do. What can people who were dependent on daily income can eat now? The government is engaged only in awareness creation. No one provides relief and livelihood support. People are amazed to see this. What can the government do after people are cleared by the pandemic. It is really saddening.
FGD participants in the same Woreda also added 'there are people who sit at home without having food to eat. They continuously request us for support, but we are not able to support them. We transfer their requests to the higher officials, but there is no response'. The lack of support to the pastoral and agro-pastoral communities in the face of adverse socio-economic challenges is well explained by the FGD participants in Babile where they said 'We heard that the government is changed. But we didn't see that in action. The community is in trouble and livelihood crisis due to the lockdown. But we didn't get any support from the government or any other volunteer persons and organizations'.
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Likewise, a key informant interviewed in Tuli-Guled1 Woreda expressed the lack of support in the following ways 'the conflict has resulted in lots of loss and damages including death, injury, displacement, destruction of property, famine etc. The problem is still continuing. But, people are not getting required support'. Similar ideas were also raised by the FGD participants and key informants in Mulu and Erer Woredas.
It can, thus, be understood that there is lack of emergency relief and other forms of support despite the desperate situation the study communities are in. It implies to the need for timely interventions to support the pastoralist and agro-pastoralists who are struggling with a variety of socio-economic challenges in the advent of COVID-19 related lockdown and restrictions.
4.2.3. Vulnerable Groups to COVID-19 related Effects
As there were no positive COVID-19 cases in the study Woredas, the study participants have indicated the groups which have become vulnerable or most affected by the COVID-19 related lockdown and restrictions. Accordingly, the groups identified as vulnerable or most affected were:
• Daily laborers and people who depend on daily income: the daily laborers and people who depend on daily income were identified as most affected by COVID- 19 related lockdown as they lose their sources of income following the decline of economic activities and within this cluster the women and the small children tend to suffer more than others from the subsequent impact of COVID-19born restrictions. • The elderly and people with chronic illnesses: the participants mentioned the elderly or the aged people as well as people with chronic illnesses like diabetics as most vulnerable to COVID-19. This is based on their knowledge and
1 Both Tuli Guled and Tulu Guled is used interchangeably, however, Tuli Guled is preferred in the Somali Region. 35
awareness about the adverse effects of COVID-19 on these groups in different parts of the world. • Traders: the traders, especially small scale traders, were also among the groups identified to be most affected by the decline of trade activities following the COVID-19 related lockdown and restrictions. Besides this, traders will be vulnerable to the COVID-19 due to their mobility, and interaction with many customers. • Women and children: women and children were also identified as most affected by the COVID-19 related lockdown and restrictions. Women became affected due to the loss or decline of their economic activities as many women who were engaged in small scale trade activities including khat and other goods have now stayed at home due to the COVID-19 related lockdown and in fear of the COVID-19. It’s important to mention here that this study was conducted immediately after the pandemic was reported in Ethiopia and some regions level and owing to the remoteness of the study area such impacts as domestic violence are not reported by the participants. The decline of opportunities for men to earn an income also places a great burden on the household, however, mainly on women and children. Children, especially orphans, were said to be more vulnerable as they will face difficulties due to the livelihood crisis in their respective households and the closure of education and recreational facilities. • The poor: the poor are obviously most vulnerable groups as the decline of economic activities and the livelihood crisis would result in the deterioration of their assets due to consumption as well as limit their opportunities to fulfill their basic necessities. • Youths: the youth are identified as vulnerable groups as the closure of schools, decline of economic activities and income earning opportunities, as well as conflict in some Woredas directly affect them. • Pastoralists and agro-pastoralists: the decline in the demand for livestock and agricultural products, the rise in cost of living, locust outbreak and conflict in
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some Woredas, the lack of supply of farm inputs. make them among the vulnerable groups to the adverse effects associated with COVID-19 related lockdown and restrictions.
4.2.4. Measures Taken to Prevent the COVID-19 Pandemic
The local governments of the study Woredas, as the main responsible bodies, are working on preventing the spread of COVID-19 in their respective communities. The measures taken to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic and the problems associated with it include the following:
• Awareness creation: the government officials of all the study Woredas were exerting a great on awareness creation among their respective communities by establishing awareness raising committees involving government officials, health experts, clan and religious leaders, as well women and youth groups. The study participants, however, indicated a need for strengthening awareness creation efforts at grassroots level by sending awareness raising teams into remote kebeles and sub-kebeles. • Enforcement of restrictions and measures: the other sort of action being taken by the administrations of the study Woredas is the enforcement of restrictions and measures declared by State of Emergency at both national and regional levels. In this regard, the Woreda administrations in all the study Woredas were trying to enforce restrictions and precautionary measures like social distancing on public gatherings, follow up the wearing of masks, temperature checkups at entry points, as well as fixing of hand washing facilities in different areas. Woreda’s like Tuli-Guled arranged an emergency numbers and communicated to the public for any queries and information. For instance, FGD participants in Gursum Woreda mentioned that 'there was a case where people who came from nearby places to participate in a funeral ceremony of a well-known person deceased in Bombas town were told to return at a checkpoint on the entrance of
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the town'. The observation of researchers in the field, on the other hand, indicated that though there were encouraging actions in relation to temperature checkups and establishment of hand washing facilities in some places, there is a gap in strict enforcement of measures especially the wearing of masks. Most of the people in all the study Woredas were not wearing masks at the time of data collection. • Fund mobilization: In some Woredas like Babile and Tuli-Guled, efforts were being made to mobilize fund and support to vulnerable groups by selected local COVID-19. Ad hoc committee Babile Woreda Administration, for instance, has opened a bank account to mobilize fund from volunteer people. In Tuli-Guled Woreda, the Woreda cabinet members have contributed their one-month salary, while the employees contributed 5% of their respective salaries. Additional money has also been collected from merchants in the Woreda to support the needy members of the community. This is, however, being carried out at a very limited scale that many vulnerable groups are complaining about the lack of support both from the government and other stakeholders including NGOs. • Price control: following the travel restriction, food and non-food items supply have declined sharply to cause inflation. To control the irrational price increase government officials has taken imitative of controlling it. • Efforts aimed at tackling food insecurity: the administrations of the study Woredas were trying to support the agro-pastoralists through the provision of farm inputs mainly seed and fertilizer. The study participants, however, mentioned the inadequacy of the farm input provided by the government and the lack of supply of such inputs in local markets. Besides the provision of farm input, there is a plan to cultivate crops in some hectares of land directly by the government. The government officials in Gursum Woreda, for instance, mentioned that there is an initiative by the regional government to cultivate 250 hectares of land in the Woreda as part efforts to tackle food insecurity.
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4.3. Impact of COVID-19 on Social Cohesion
Intercommunity relation in the assessed Woredas is wider in its scope. The Woredas are located in regional state boundaries and people travel across borders and communicate on daily basis. According to respondents, even though the inter-community relations are harmonious within as well with adjacent Woreda communities, the gradual effect of the COVID-19 pandemic is creating social tension. Respondents were swift to identify how restrictions and social distancing affected cross-border activities. This may have long-term consequences for on the way States operate, and are disproportionately effecting on regional minorities living in border areas and who are often involved in cross-border trade. There is a suspected risk that unresolved cross-border issues – including disputes over natural resources such as water, land, pastures, and non- demarcated or delimitated parts of the border – could become acute. These issues are reported to have interethnic conflict instigation dimension. Thus, for better clarity, it is crucial to assess the factors that enhance social cohesion and mitigate conflicts in light of the pandemic in their thematic and categories as per the following thematic areas.
4.3.1. Characteristics of social relations
It is difficult to predict the latent ramifications of COVID-19 on diverse societies and social cohesion. However, respondents suggested that there is a risk that minority communities (clans that are minor in number, laborers and petty traders that are not residing in the area), elders, cross-border traders, destitute and daily laborers could be either adversely targeted or inadvertently and disproportionally affected, which has the potential to weaken social cohesion. If certain groups in society perceive that they are being treated differently, it can undermine trust between the many groups that comprise the diverse societies. Due to this, there is a risk that existing divisions may deepen and create an environment in which identity-related matters can be politicized or securitized. The decisions that authorities take now may have long-term implications for the resilience and stability of diverse societies in the future. Regarding this, in the
39 current resettlement in Tuli-Guled and Mulu Woreda, the government is reported to be reluctant to provide social amenities (such as water) and protective equipment that may degreed the cohesion between the government institutions, the host community and IDP’s.
The impact of the pandemic is also identified in economic sectors that transcends and disrupts to the social fabrics. Respondents have found out negative impact on economy and livelihood, which gradually may degrade the social cohesion and break the chance of enhancing communal interaction and bondages. Some of the targeted study Woreda’s are located in strategic center and has link with Djibouti, Somaliland and Addis Ababa as well as Dire-dawa and Oromia and Afar regions. Even though the movements are declining, different people trade and do business, laborers come and go to work within the Woredas. Following the existing fear of infection transaction, the stigma on these part of the community may deteriorate the social fabric and cohesion, which may grow to conflict in the future.
Furthermore, the promulgated command post has restricted social interactions and movements, thus, the communication between communities and people has decreased, even in major social ceremonies, such as wedding, funerals and other communal and religious festivities. Regarding this, a case where people who came from nearby places to participate in a funeral ceremony of a well-known person deceased in Gursum and people were checked to enter Bombas town of Gursum Woreda. Such restrictions were identified by both FGD participants and KI to degrade the social bond and trust; especially in area where there is no social harmony. Similarly, community leaders, elders, religious leaders and government officials identified the effect to slowdown the peace building and community collaborative process.
Despite these, the social fabrics and social cohesion of the community is reported to be largely benign. For this, the major reasons indicated by the key informants are as follows; currently, the two regional government together with the national government
40 are working together to curtail the conflict instigating factors and build mutual platform that can benefit the two regional communities to nurture peace and social cohesion. To this end in Babile Woreda community based peace building and conflict management system have been designed and implemented. The same initiatives are underway in Tuli-Guled to ease the tension in the Woreda and with the neighboring Oromiya regional state Woreda (Chinaksen). In this regards, the role of religious leaders, local elders beside government official is proving paramount importance. Thus, one can easily infer from the FGD and KII that the community as well as the governments and other stakeholders are working tirelessly to mitigate the effect of the pandemic in the Woredas.
The respondents also reported the prevalence of a peaceful environment at national and regional level as the major addition to the stability of the study areas. Regarding this, the respondents repeatedly mentioned how the regional political issues and politicians’ involvements at the time of Abdi Mohammed Omer, nick named Abdi Illey harmed community relations with neighboring Oromia Woreda’s and culminated the life of innocents in Mulu, Babile and Tuli-Guled areas. Such tensions and conflicts were identified by the Key Informant Interview (KI) and FGD participants as an artificial tension that instigated conflicts.
Furthermore, the reasons why community’s relation showed dramatic improvement has to do with the lesson from past wounds, and the opportunity that helped the local people to realize and condemn their past bad deeds and misbehaviors by the Community Based Organizations (CBOs) is paramount importance. People came to learn that the violent conflict did not benefit them and that previous political leaders (prior to the change) were involved in the conflict to make political benefit out of it, but this is no more the case by now. The result is therefore improving social relation in the study area. Such developments are contributing hugely to the improvements of the societal relations and building of trust and cooperation between people within and outside the Woreda.
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4.3.2. Emerging social problems perceived by people due to COVID-19 pandemic
Respondents identified that the pandemic invited an emergency, which not only disrupted the established social amenities and established systems, but also called for immediate actions and attentions. To substantiate this with response of Key Informants from Babile and Mulu 'currently, in this area there is demand for social service and quarantine centers to isolate and treat the suspected and confirmed COVID-19 cases'. Others were also very swift to identify the need for emergency reliefs to reach the low- income people. Regarding this, FGD respondents reflected the link between the indirect impacts of the pandemic with emerging social problems. Coupled with the slowed down economic activity the pandemic affected the community,, especially in small business activities and on people those who live on day-to-day income generation activities. Participants of FGD in Mulu indicated, 'it is important to underscore that some 75% of people in Mulu Woreda depend for their living on daily bases, they make their living from day-to-day from business activities in the Woreda. Thus, market disruption has exposed and threatened the livelihoods of these populations'. Other emerging problems are also linked to the measures taken by the government (promulgated command post), such as social distancing measures and stay at home practices. This measure has fueled new challenges on the poor. In substantiating this, a key informant compared it by saying; 'Telling a man with five children to stay home without any support or initiatives, is like genocide on the poor'.
A government official interviewed in Babile Woreda also raised how the COVID-19 pandemic impeded the community effort to combat the 'locust outbreak, which was affecting the crops and grazing land in the Woreda. Coupled with delays to fight the locust outbreak using plane and community mobilization, it is reported to threaten the livelihood of the pastoralists and agro-pastoralists in the Woredas’. Regarding this, an agro-pastoralist who had participated in an FGD discussion in the same Woreda elaborated that people are afraid to come together to fight the locust infestation as they
42 used to do in the past. In addition to Babile Woreda, the locust outbreak has also affected crops and grazing land in Tuli-guled Woreda. A government official interviewed in Tuli-Guled Woreda has described the problem; ‘locust outbreak has affected the crops and only 20 quintals were produced this year'.
To mitigate such effects of the pandemic, local administration and community leaders, such as elders and religious clerics are encountered with additional burden of mobilizing funds and coordinating the community to help venerable group of the societies to overcome the consequence of the crisis.
Beyond disrupting the social fabrics, the issues are reported to inviting psychological problem. The pandemic has also created a psychological trauma. People were reported to be reluctant to visit medical service centers and are unable to freely contact with each other including with health care professionals, nurses and doctors when they encounter with other health problems. Such problems are leading the community to avoid going to medical health care. Moreover, Woredas like Mulu, Tuli-Guled, Babile, and Erer are located in border areas (regional border and also are proximal with international border) people are in fear of infection, hence, they call for quarantine center establishment and other form of interventions to keep communal resilient intact. On top of this, social stigma to people which travel and trade between the regional and international border from boarder area especially, with positive cases were reported by the study participants.
4.3.3. COVID-19 & Role of Community Based Organizations in promoting social cohesion
As States introduce measures to combat the spread of COVID-19, it is in their interest to ensure the safety and security of the people. In the study Woreda many people are low wageworkers, informal laborers and without access to saving and bank services and operating across regional borders. Local administration and state governments are
43 expected to safe guard and protect such people, in particular, they are expected to take positive actions to counter venerable people’s economic marginalization and exclusion, including by identifying and implementing supportive measures.
To curb the damages of the pandemic the government and the Community Based Organizations (CBOs) have to ensure that information regarding the pandemic and its associated effect is communicated clearly and transparently so that everyone in society understands what is required. Persons belong to national minorities, elders, women and other vulnerable that may not have an adequate proficiency in the official language, could be excluded from official communications, reducing a state’s ability to address the crisis. Likewise, it is in the interest of the authorities to ensure that everyone, regardless of their background, has equal access to public administration and services. In this regards, people are organizing to disseminate information and are mobilizing resources to diminish the effect of the pandemic. For instance, different community initiated committees were identified in Babile, Tuli-Guled and Mulu. In elders and religious leaders, even though technical and medical realities of the pandemic are scant, they are devoted in disseminating information and teaching the community. Such initiatives and community mobilizations help people to work for each other and to pass this challenge together as a community. Regarding this, almost in all the study Woredas FGD participants affirmed that the elders and the community leaders played key roles in strengthening the social cohesion and building trust, through social mobilizations and enhancing mutual cooperation between the communities in the Woreda and with others who dwell in nearby Woredas.
Resolving disputes and ensuring peace through traditional and religious conflict resolving that have reported by our respondents as the major success of the elders in the study areas. Similarly, religious leaders play important role of information dissemination and teaching about the pandemic and the way to deal with its socio- economic impacts. These are especially found crucial at this time of emergency where the social cohesions call immediate interventions.
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FGD respondents also understood the role of businesspersons such as traders in promoting social cohesion and peace building. These groups said that the traders have big role in supplies of goods but are not playing active role in building social cohesion to the level expected. These groups suggest rectifying the limitation such as by creating a platform through which the business men come together and make contribution for local community development would enable them to play positive role. Contrarily, in Mulu, participants also provided an example of how tradesmen play roles in social cohesion. The government and businesspersons are like hand and gloves who work together. Whatever the government requests they fulfill and they are active in community related activities. However, their individual initiative and commitment is scant.
The third category of actors is the local government who is sometimes the only active player in promoting social cohesion. Our finding shows that the role of the government in this regard is very big for a number of reasons. For example in some of the Woredas there are internally displaced people sheltered for years (in Mulu and Tuli-Guled Woreda) due to conflicts that ravaged the area in the past years. In this regard, the government is displaying its interest to returning displaced peoples to their locality from Oromia to Somali and from Somali to Oromia regions. The role of the government in prevention of the Spread of the COVID-19 pandemic through community mobilization and creation of awareness is very big. The community mobilization and teaching of the local people to kebele level also includes some instances of delivery of sanitary supplies.
4.4. Conflict Situations and COVID-19
In the research Woredas, local communities are interrelated with one another by blood and kinship and are multi-lingual; speaking Somali, Oromiffa, Afarigna and Amharic languages. The social distancing and the limited interaction reduced the social cohesion and made communities not to see each other at times of happiness and sadness, thus,
45 making the working culture and interactions daunting. The following are case in which social cohesions are affected. In relation to this, for instance, there was a case where people who came from nearby places to participate in a funeral ceremony of a well- known person in Gursum town. However, informants reported that they were halted at the entrance of the city and were made return back to their area without attending the ceremony. The effect of social distancing and curtailing the movement and interaction of communities may broaden the social gap, particularly, in area where there was continuous conflict, raiding and social animosities. These examples can provide some insights into how the pandemic has resulted in multifaceted effects on the culture of working and collaboration between neighbors and neighboring Woreda people.
Similarly, in the last three years there was continuous conflict between Tuli-Guled Woreda and the adjacent Chinaksen Woreda. The people used to live together and were related with one another via blood and kinship including marriage; however, they affected when they were blamed for aligning themselves the conflicting groups of the Oromo and Somali ethnic groups. At present, the two-Woreda administrations are trying to solve the conflict related problems and are struggling to resettling the community in Tuli-Guled Woreda and Chinakesn who were known for violent conflict that affected the people in these two weredas sharing boundaries. Even though this initiative is perceived well to mitigate the tension by the informants, lack of proper attention coupled with the pandemic made the initiative less impactful. Correspondingly, FGD participants in Mulu and Erer and Gursum and Babile Woredas, identified the responses given to COVID-19 and the related restrictions have slowdown the resettlements, peace and security building process among the pastoral and agro- pastoral communities of the study area. Thus, one can say that the attention given to the resettlement is inadequate, and the efforts to curb the effect of the pandemic have impacted the livelihood and social fabrics of the communities.
Furthermore, respondents indicated that there was conflict incidence between Somali and Afar before a month but the respondents were unable to find a link with COVID-
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19. Similarly, another instance can be taken from Babile Woreda. In this area, there were violent conflicts before 2011. It was of two types; inter-regional border conflict with adjacent Oromia Woredas, and inter-clan conflict related to land, grazing and water. The condition was very serious. It has resulted in death, injury and displacement of people as well as robbery and destruction of property. Currently, however, the situation is stabilizing and the COVID-19 pandemic is creating a diversion of priorities in the areas.
In similar instances, minor disputes sometimes arise in different villages of the study area. For instance, there was a recent dispute between 'Tiqdem' and 'Anun' kebeles in the Gursum Woreda. The conflict is instigated by farmland. The land was formerly a grazing land. Some people wanted to convert the grazing land into farmland. Others opposed this act. Regarding this, the researcher tried to probe the underlying cause that instigated the people to convert the grazing land into farmland and identified that 'while the community is trying to supplement the degrading livelihood with crop production brought the instance into conflict'. Police entered into the area and controlled the conflict. The clan and community leaders have listened to both sides and helped them to reach into a win-win situation by dividing the land into both grazing and farming purposes.
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5. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
5.1. Conclusion The spread of the COVID-19 pandemic in Ethiopia is increasing from time to time and Somali Regional State is one of the regional states having relatively high number of reported COVID-19 positive cases. The majority of these cases were, however, on quarantine centers namely Jigjiga University and Asha Dewele quarantine centers, meant for returning migrants/citizens from neighboring countries like Somaliland, Somalia, and Djibouti. As a result, the level of spread of the COVID-19 was limited internally in various Zones and Woredas. The rapid assessment results revealed that there was no laboratory confirmed positive COVID-19 cases in all the five study Woredas. Despite this fact, there are a number of factors that might create a conducive situation for the spread of the virus, including close interaction and gathering of people in market places for exchange of goods and services as well as in wedding and funeral ceremonies, presence of returnees that join the communities without completing the mandatory quarantine, proximity to areas known to have positive COVID-19 cases, and the crowded and vulnerable situation in IDP sites and temporary shelters of people displaced by conflict.
Though there are gaps that need to be filled in raising the awareness of the community about the pandemic, many people in study areas demonstrated basic understanding about the COVID-19 pandemic and its means of spread. The community members in the study Woredas obtain information about the corona pandemic from different sources including TV, radio, social media, the internet, the Woreda administrations, health experts, religious and clan leaders, Jigjiga University and other medias.
Many people in the study communities also try to practice the necessary precautionary measures. However, there are community members who are reluctant or unable to put in place the necessary preventive measures into practice for various reasons; like
48 misperceptions, lack of money to buy masks and sanitizers, and lack of water supply.
The lockdown and restrictions imposed by the government in order to prevent and control the spread of COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in a number of socio-economic problems. These included decline in trade and economic activities as well as the supply of goods in local markets; decreased demand for livestock and agricultural products; rise in cost of living due to escalation of prices for food and non-food items; rise in transportation cost and lesser availability of transportation services; lack of supply and resultant increase in the price of farm inputs; locust outbreak in some Woredas; displacement caused by conflict and road construction; lack of water, health, and education facilities; alarming rate of mosquito inbreeding in Gursum Woreda; and most of all lack of emergency relief and livelihood support in the face of such a crisis. Even though some of the problems were not directly related to COVID-19, they tend to exacerbate the livelihood crisis resulted from the decline of trade and economic activities because of the lockdown and restrictions. The interplay of these problems would have a serious negative implication on the livelihood and food security of pastoralists’ agro-pastoralists in the study areas unless timely interventions are made. The groups identified to be most affected or vulnerable to the aforementioned socio- economic problems were daily laborers and people who used to earn their income on daily basis, the elderly and people with chronic illnesses, traders, women and children, the poor, youths, as well as the pastoralists and agro-pastoralists, women headed householders, the widowed divorced and poor women.
The local governments of the study Woredas, as the main responsible bodies, were working on preventing the spread of COVID-19 in their respective communities. The measures taken to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic and the problems associated with it include raising awareness among the public through active involvement of religious and clan leaders as well as women and men groups, enforcement of restrictions and measures, fund mobilization, price control and some efforts aimed at tackling food insecurity. The actions other than awareness raising were,
49 however, found to be implemented at limited level mainly due to budget constraints.
The pastoral and agro-pastoral communities in the study Woredas are interrelated with one another by ties of blood and kinship relationships both internally within each Woreda and externally with the communities of adjacent Woredas. The relationships between them were mostly cooperative and peaceful. Their multilingualism i.e., speaking Somali, Oromiffa, Affarigna and Amharic languages implies the long time evolved intermingling and sharing of good and bad times of the local people who overtime developed a multicultural multi identity bondage of mutual respect and tolerance that best exemplifies the people in the area. This has also a great contribution toward positive social interaction and cohesion among these communities. However, the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in social distancing and limited interaction between people, thus leading people not see each other at times of happiness and sadness like wedding and funerals as usual. COVID-19 has also affected the culture of working together, mutual support and cooperation due to restrictions imposed on gatherings and in fear of the COVID-19. Such social distancing realities together with the existed conflict are feared to disrupt the social harmony of the community.
All the five study Woredas have had a recent history of conflict with adjacent Woredas and the main cause behind these conflicts were inter-regional border lands and resources. The three study Woredas under Fafen Zone had experienced violent conflicts with adjacent Woredas of Oromia Region, while the two study Woredas under Siti Zone had experienced violent conflicts with adjacent Woredas of Afar region. The border conflicts in the study Woredas, except Tuli-Guled, were settled long before the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic. The long lasted conflict between Tuli-Guled and Chinaksen Woreda’s was on the other hand, settled very recently just two weeks before the data collection. The conflicts were resolved mainly through the customary conflict resolution mechanisms of the respective communities through the involvement of clan leaders and/or community elders from both sides. Besides border conflicts, incidences of inter- clan disputes related to land, grazing and water resources were reported in most of the
50 study Woredas. Even though such conflicts resulted in deaths, injuries, displacements, robberies, and distractions of properties, often get solved through committees established from conflicting clans or parties.
The role of the government as well as the clan, religious, and/or community leaders were tantamount in controlling and reconciling conflicts in the study Woredas whenever arisen. COVID-19 was found to have no direct triggering effect toward violent conflicts during the time of the study. However, respondents identified its effects indirectly through degrading social interaction and cohesion of the communities.
The results indicate the effect of social distancing and curtailing the movement and interaction of communities may broaden the social gap, particularly, in areas where there was continuous conflict, raiding and social animosities. From this, inferentially, one can learn how the pandemic is resulted multifaceted effects on the culture of working and collaboration between neighbors and the people of neighboring Woredas.
The initiatives taken by the government to curtail the pandemic are perceived scant to mitigate the effect and enhance the social cohesion of the community. For this, lack of attention coupled with the pandemic made the initiative less impactful. Correspondingly, the responses given to COVID-19 and the related restrictions have slowdown the resettlements, peace and security building process in the study area. Thus, the social cohesion and harmony of the communities are inadequate to curb the effect of the pandemic and enhance the livelihood and social fabrics of the communities.
Beyond disrupting the social fabrics, the issues are reported to inviting psychological problem leading people to be reluctant to visit medical centers and to freely interact with one another, including with health care professionals. Moreover, Woredas’ like Mulu, Tuli-Guled, Babile, and Erer are located in border areas (regional border and also are proximal with international border). In these areas, due to cross border movement and fear of infection, there is a need for quarantine centers and other form of interventions to keep communal resilient intact. On top of this, social stigma to people
51 which travel and trade between the regional and international borders, especially in areas with known COVID-19 positive cases were reported by the study participants.
5.2. Recommendations On the basis of the main findings of the rapid assessment, the following basic recommendations are forwarded. The recommendations focus on the main areas of intervention required from the government, NGOs both local and international, CSOs and other stakeholders in order to enhance COVID-19 prevention activities while minimizing the socio-economic problems associated with it, and to improve social cohesion and peace in the two Zones, with special emphasis on the study Woredas. The recommendations are:
5.2.1. Strengthen the COVID-19 pandemic prevention and control activities Though there are endeavors by the respective government and community leaders to prevent and control the spread of the pandemic in the study areas, there is still a need for more efforts in the following areas: • Strengthen awareness creation about COVID-19 at grass-roots level: though the government is working on raising the awareness of the community about the COVID-19 pandemic, it is not adequate as it failed to reach the remote areas to the level expected. The existence of misperceptions among community members also implied the need for strengthening the awareness creation efforts. In this regard, there is a need for arranging training of trainers (ToT) about the COVID- 19 for selected experts and influential personalities in each sub-kebele and deploy them to teach their respective communities about the COVID-19 pandemic and its preventive measures. Additionally, there is also a need to use all sorts of media outlets and Information Education Communication (IEC) strategies to disseminate relevant information and lessons about the COVID-19 pandemic to the pastoral and agro-pastoral communities living in remote parts of the region, which in most cases are unreachable via television programs. Enhancing the involvement of religious leaders in trainings and awareness
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campaigns is also crucial to curb the misperceptions among some community members. • Provision of protection equipment’s and supplies: there is also a need to support the Woreda administrations via the provision of equipment’s and supplies required to enhance COVID-19 prevention activities including masks, sanitizer, soaps, temperature measuring devices, vehicles, microphones, jerry cans etc. • Strictly enforce the restrictions imposed by the state of emergency declared at national level and other regional directives: The Woreda administrations need to be strict enough in enforcing COVID-19 restrictions including the rulings on public gatherings, wearing of masks, mandatory quarantine etc. There is also a need to expand hand-washing facilities in as many places as possible to let people wash their hands with the aim to minimize of the risk of being infected by the virus. • Enhance preparedness activities: despite the presence of numerous exposing factors to the threat of COVID-19 pandemic, the level of preparedness in the study Woredas was limited. There is, hence, a need for enhancing preparedness activities toward COVID-19 including the establishment of quarantine centers.
5.2.2. Introduce interventions intended to minimize the socio-economic problems associated with COVID-19 related lockdown and restrictions COVID-19 related lockdown and restrictions along with other stressors have posed multifaceted problems to the pastoral and agro-pastoral communities in the study areas. There is, hence, a need for designing and implementing interventions aimed at the following core points of action. • Emergency relief and livelihood support: Given the livelihood crisis faced by the study, communities due to the wide-ranging problems caused by COVID-19 related lockdown and restrictions, conflict induced displacement, and other natural and manmade adverse conditions; there is a dire need for emergency
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relief and support to the pastoral and agro-pastoral communities in the study areas. In this regard, the regional disaster prevention and preparedness bureau and other voluntary and non-for-profit organizations including Mercy Corps need to design an emergency relief project emphasizing on the provision of basic food supply to both the disadvantaged community members and the conflict displaced people facing livelihood crisis, as well as shelter construction at least in the form of tents for the displaced people. Besides emergency relief, there is also a need to design interventions intended to rescue the livelihood of the pastoral and agro-pastoral communities. The interventions would include use of rural cooperatives both for sale of livestock and agricultural products as well as supply of food and non-food items. This should be implemented in a way that enhances the income of the pastoralists and agro-pastoralists from the sale of livestock and agricultural products while supplying the goods to the same communities at relatively lower prices. The creation of feasible income earning opportunities, the arrangement of credit schemes, supply of required farm input and immediate action on locust infestations are also among the essential interventions required to rescue the livelihood of the pastoralists and agro- pastoralists. • Reconstruction of basic infrastructure and facilities including shelters, health (human and animal), water and education facilities: the violent conflicts that have occurred in the study areas at different times have resulted in the destruction of existing basic infrastructure and amenities, while hampering the construction of any new ones. To this end, there is a need for designing interventions that would reconstruct or rehabilitate the partially destroyed facilities and build additional ones focusing on housing units for the displaced, both human and animal health centers, water supply infrastructure, as well as schools. The Tuli-Guled Woreda requires immediate action in these respects as reconciliation has been reached very recently and many displaced households are still in difficult conditions.
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5.2.3. Design and implement interventions aimed at improving social cohesion and peace building Though there is relative peace and social cohesion in the study areas, there are no assurances for preventing the re-emergence of violent conflicts in any of these areas. Furthermore, there are still conflict displaced people in some of the Woredas pointing to the need for advancing social reconciliation and peace building among the conflicting parties to let them return and reintegrate into their native places. To this end, the required interventions would include: o Training on conflict management and peace building: there is a need to organize context based training programs on conflict management and peace building targeting the youth, women, clan, religious, and community leaders, and other influential personalities aimed at changing the mindset and behavior of people toward peace. o Promote dialogue between conflicting parties: there is a need to organize peace building workshops and conferences involving community representatives, academicians, as well as governmental and non-governmental actors in order to help conflicting groups to come together and reach on mutual understanding, rebuild acceptance and trust between them and seek mutual solutions to their problems. It would also have a crucial role in sustaining the reconciliations and peace agreements reached between the conflicting parties. o Enable the media to play positive roles in peace building: the media can be used as a powerful tool for improving social relationships and cohesion that were shattered due to conflict. In this regard, there is a need to use the media for broadcasting and disseminating documentaries and peace education programs intended to bring about attitudinal and behavioral change conducive to peace building among the conflicting parties. The media can also be effectively used to fight against rumors and propaganda disseminated by perpetrators of conflict and to enhance mutual understanding and trust between the conflicting groups thereby creating a favorable condition for peace and peace building.
55 o Strengthen customary and grassroots level intuitions and groups: the role and acceptance of customary institutions and mechanisms is high among the pastoral and agro-pastoral communities in the study areas. There is, hence, a need to closely work with and provide the necessary support to the customary intuitions of conflict management and groups like peace committees to be able to play their roles in conflict resolution and peace building effectively in their respective areas. In this regard, there should be strong collaboration between legal and customary institutions where the state recognizes and supports the customary institutions and enforce their decisions. o Ensure rule of law: the government through its security and justice apparatuses including police, defense forces and the court need to ensure rule of law by taking serious measures on perpetrators of violence and conflict in the study areas. o Solve the border issues between regional states: as the issue of border lands between Somali regional state and Oromiya and Affar regional states was the main cause for violent conflicts in the study areas, the federal government should come up with a lasting and agreed upon solution for disputed border lands through the active engagement of each of the regional states mentioned above. The solution to the border issue between the regional states need to consider mobility of pastoralists and should not trigger resource competition between them. o Enhance interaction, collaboration and exchanges between the conflicting parties: there is a need for promoting and strengthening close interaction and socio-economic integration between the conflicting parties through promoting trade and exchanges, collaboration in agricultural activities, use of health and educational facilities, sharing of grazing lands and water points, organizing and participating in sports and cultural events including holiday celebrations.
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Abdu Rahman, A.S, (2020). Africa COVID-19 stats: 750,451 cases; 15,738 deaths; 409,568 recoveries. Retrieved on July, 2020 from https://www.africanews.com ACCORD, (2020). Conflict & Resilience Monitor. The spread of COVID-19, and the measures taken to contain it. The risk of social unrest and violent conflict. CDC, (2020). Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19): https://www.cdc.gov/media/dpk/diseases- and-conditions/coronavirus/coronavirus-2020.html Kemal, M., (2014). The effect of climate change on pastoralism in Ethiopia: The case of Awash. MA Thesis (Unpublished), Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Munro, E. (2020). Strategic Security Analysis; Strengthening Prevention with Better Anticipation: COVID-19 and Beyond, issue 09. PHEOC. (2020). COVID-19 Pandemic Preparedness and Response in Ethiopia. Weekly Bulletin, No. 11, Issued on July 13, 2020. Ranaraja, Janaka (2020). COVID - 19 AND COMMUNITY PROTECTION; A STRATEGIC VIEW OF A ROTARY PEACE FELLOW. Wehrmann, B. (2017). Understanding, preventing and solving land conflicts. A practical guide and tool. World Economic Forum (2020). Official Website, Retrieved on April 08, 2020. Worldometers (2020). COVID-19 Coronavirus Pandemic. Retrieved on July 22, 2020 from https://worldometers.info Worldometers (2020). COVID19 Coronavirus Pandemic. Retrieved on May 26, 2020 from https://worldometers.info Reicher and Stott (2020). On order and disorder during the COVID-19 pandemic. British Journal of Social Psychology (2020), 59, 694–702 www.wileyonlinelibrary.com Louisa Brain, Hassan Adow et al. (2020). COVID-19 and mobility, conflict and development in the Horn of Africa. REF briefing paper; Research and Evidence Facility HCNM (2020). Streamlining diversity: COVID-19 measures that support social cohesion. HCNM.GAL/2/20/Rev.1
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APPENDICES: KII and FGD Guides used in the Rapid Assessment
Key Informant Interview Guide (For members of pastoral community, youth and women groups, clan elders or leaders, traders, government officials and civil society organizations) Introduction Mercy corps in collaboration with Somali regional government have contracted a team of researchers to undertake a systematic assessment to better understand the impacts of COVID-19 pandemic on the peace and social cohesion of communities living in five selected Woreda’s of Somali region; your community is among these. The overall purpose of this assessment is to inform the design of peace building and social cohesion interventions Mercy Corps will be implementing in conflict affected areas of Somali Regional State. The key assessment objectives are: ✓ Identify key problems people are facing as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic ✓ Identify factors that trigger conflict and affect social cohesion in association with COVID-19 pandemic
Taking this into account, I would like to ask you share your experiences, views/opinions and knowledge with us. The information gathered will be used to prepare the assessment report. However, your personal details will not be included in the reports and will be kept confidential, unless you choose otherwise. Note. Ensure the respondent has read and signed the consent form before proceeding to the interview.
Please note that this interview will take approximately 1:30 hours. Respondent’s name (optional): Institution/Community name: Role in the institution/ community name: Gender ------Age ------Respondent’s telephone no.: Date and venue of interview: Interviewer’s name:
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I. Key Informant Interview Guide Questions A. Introduction • Are you aware of the current COVID-19 pandemic? If yes, how do you feel about it? Why do you feel that way? • What communication channel do you use to get information on the pandemic? Why do you choose that channel? • Who are most affected by the pandemic and why? B. Measures Taken to curve & Prevent COVID-19 Pandemic • What emergency measures are being implemented by your local government to curb the spread of COVID-19? How do you feel about the measures being taken? • What services has the government made available? Are you able to access these services? C. Social cohesion • How do you describe the social relationships (acceptance, respect & trust) your community has with other communities that are living with and adjacent to you? • Was this relation characterized by conflict or cooperation or harmony? • What do you think are the possible reasons for the characterization of the kind of relationship you just described? • Has the COVID-19 pandemic affected the social relationships in any way, for instance in terms of eroding acceptance, respect and trust or claiming pre-existing conflicts within your community and between communities? If so, how? Can you explain more? • How have COVID-19 related hindrances affected social cohesion? How can these be manifested? • Can you mention if there are any social problems emerging and perceived by people due to COVID-19 Pandemic? • What would you recommend the government, NGOs and CSOs to do in this regard? D. Economic Activities and Livelihood in the Face of COVID-19 • Does COVID-19 impact the economic activities of your area? If yes, how? What are its implications to the income of households? • Has the community’s access to market place and merchandize, goods and services been affected by COVID-19? If not, why not?
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• Has COVID-19 impacted your and your community’s day to day life? If yes, how can this impact be expressed? If not, why not? • Has the market been affected as a result of the pandemic? If yes in what ways has COVID-19 impacted the market? E. Conflict Situations • Do you have any information on any incidences or indications of violent conflict in your localities within the last three months? • If yes, can you describe why, when, where and how it happened? Who were involved? What damage/losses occurred? How was it managed? What is the status of the conflict now? • Do you think that the spread of COVID-19 pandemic triggered violent conflict or tension within the community and between communities in your area? If yes, can you describe some of these incidences when, where and how it happened? What damage/losses occurred? How was it managed? What is the status of the conflict now? F. Role of community based organizations in combating the spread of COVID-19 & Promoting social cohesion • Do community leaders and religious fathers play any role in combating the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic in your area? • What do you think should be done to resolve conflicts and build peace in your community? What measures should be taken by your community to promote peace? G. Role of traders in Promoting Social cohesion • What is the role of businessmen such as traders in promoting social cohesion among communities? • What do you think should be done to strengthen social cohesion within the community and between communities? H. the Role of local government in Promoting Social cohesion • What do you think the role of local government should be in promoting social cohesion? • What do you think should be done to strengthen social cohesion within the community and between communities?
Focus Group Discussion (FGD) Guide Questions Part One: FGD Guide Questions for community Representatives
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1) How do you understand COVID-19? 2) What causes it and how does it spread? 3) What do you think are the social consequences of the spread of the virus at national and local levels? 4) What are the economic consequences of the Pandemic? Can you explain from your local perspective? 5) Do you think that COVID -19 related challenge affects the livelihoods of the pastoralist and the agro pastoral communities? If yes, how? 6) What are the three key challenges people in your locality are facing because of the COVID - 19. 7) What measures are being taken at local level to control the spread of the virus/ disease? 8) How do you explain the peace, stability and social cohesion of the community before and after COVID-19? In what ways has COVID-19 affected social cohesion and peoples interactions in your Woreda? 9) Were there any violent conflicts in your Woreda or locality? If yes, when and why did they occur? What were the losses and damages sustained? How were these managed? 10) Do you think that the COVID-19 pandemic contributed to latent and vivid violence or conflicts in this area? If yes, explain how? 11) Which groups are more vulnerable to COVID-19 related challenges and why? Are there any efforts being made by the government and other actors to support these groups? 12) How are communities trying to strengthen their peace and social cohesion, while minimizing the possibility of conflict in the Woreda? 13) How are the community members trying to cope up with challenges posed by COVID-19 pandemic? 14) What do you suggest that the government and international NGOs like Mercy Corps should do to support peace and social cohesion in the Woreda as well as to help the community to better cope up with the adverse consequences of COVID-19? • Your suggestion to Mercy Corps Ethiopia • Your recommendation to the government
Part Two: FGD Guide Questions to Government officials and NGO, CSO
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Members
✓ What are the impacts of COVID-19 related restrictions and lockdown on mobility and day to day life of the pastoral and agro-pastoral communities in this Woreda? ✓ What are the effects of COVID-19 related restrictions on different aspects of the livelihood of the pastoralist communities in your Woreda? ✓ What is the implication of COVID-19 related restrictions and lockdown to peace and security among the pastoral and agro-pastoral communities in your area? ✓ How do you explain the status of peace and social cohesion in the Woreda before and after COVID-19? Were there any violent conflicts or security threats in the Woreda? If yes, when and why did they occur? What were the major consequences/effects? How were they managed? ✓ In what ways does your particular organization contribute towards strengthening peace and social cohesion in the community? ✓ How is your particular organization trying to support the community to cope up with the multifaceted challenges posed by COVID-19? ✓ What should be done for building sustainable peace in this area and which of these are your priorities?
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