RAPID ASSESSMENT FOR MARKET (RAM) REPORT WREST , REGIONAL STATE, MAY 2018

Report Author: Mohammed Bedru Position/ Job Title: Emergency Response Manager RAM team members and positions: Gizawu Muluneh (Cash Officer), Yetnayet (Supply Chain Officer)

Report date: 30 May 2018 Section 1: Shock and needs analysis summary

Type(s) of shock: Conflict and Flood; Internal Displacement

Date(s) of shock(s): Conflict: April 10 and 12, 2018

Flood: 4th Week of April 2018

Date of RAM May 23-27, 2018 assessment: Affected areas For the market assessment purpose the following five woredas assessed in West assessed: Guji Zone: , Birbirsa Kajewa, , Gelana and Hambela Wamena woredas are assessed.

Affected population A total of 19,265 households and 93,309people are displaced in the five within affected area: woredas: (Number of households and people) - IDPs in Kercha: 5,222 HHs and 26,105 people - IDPs in Birbirsa Kajewa: 599 HHs and 2993 people - IDPs in Bule Hora: 2788 HHs and 18,495 people - IDPs in Gelana: 6,334 HHs and 34,305 people (flood and conflict) - IDPs in Hambela Wamena: 4,322 HHs and 11,411 people

Location of affected Majority of the IDPs in the zone are Gedeos those returned to their areas of origin population: and some are Gujis displaced from Gedeo zone of SNNPR. During the field (IDP/ stationary in homes etc…) assessment, most of the IDPs are temporarily located in houses of hosting communities and some are in religious buildings and shared emergency shelters made of tarpaulin. Most of Gedeo IDPs are returning to their areas in West Guji woredas and sheltered in neighboring households, since majorities house is burnet down during the incident.

Assessment The IRC assigned two team, one to assess the overall humanitarian need and the Methodology and other to assess market functionality in coordination with zonal and woreda stakeholders government representatives. participated on the assessment: The Rapid Assessment of Market (RAM) was mainly focused on key Emergency Shelter and Non-Food Items (ES-NFIs) required by IDPs in West Guji zone. Pre-designed questionnaires for Key Informant Interview (KII), focus group discussion (FGD) as well as traders interview questionnaires were used to gather information from government officials, IDP leaders, IDPs and traders of key ES- NFIs in the area. Accordingly XXX FGD with IDP women and men group separately, 10 KII with IDP leaders and government staffs and20 interview with traders has been conducted in four woredas. In addition, the assessment team has also conducted observation to the selected principal markets in the five woredas. The assessment was intended to help in identifying: - Key ES-NFI needs of IDPs, - Response modality (cash; in-kind or combination of modalities) preference of the IDPs, government and feasibility of selected modality - Critical markets and their functionality since the crisis - Market system in the zone and - Availability of potential financial service providers Objectives o f The overall objectives of this assessment were to : Assessment: 1. Identify the ES-NFI needs of the IDPs as well as their preference on response modality (Cash, In-Kind or Combination of modalities). 2. Understand functionality, accessibility and capacity of the key markets. 3. Check availability of the needed ES-NFI items and gather data on the price in the five woredas. 4. Understand previous experience on cash based assistance by IPs or government in the zone. 5. Assess availability and capacity of financial service providers in the assessed woredas. 6. On the basis of the above, assess feasibility of Cash Based Assistance (CBA). Markets assessed: The assessment targeted on retailers around IDP sites and wholesalers used as main source for the retailers by availing the ES-NFIs. Based on the findings of FGDs and KIIs conducted on key ES-NFI needs and principal markets, the following five markets were assessed:  Kercha Woreda: Taiwan market  Birbirsa Kajewa woreda: Birbirsa town market  Gelana woreda: Galana market and Chelelektu market and  Bule Hora: Town market Though the markets are supplying food and non-food items, the assessment team mainly focused on shops/markets supplying kitchen items, shelter, clothing, detergents, dignity items and WASH NFis. Number of Financial In the zone there are more than seven banks, however on the basis of availability Service Providers (FSP) of outlet, capacity and acceptance in the location, three banks were approached assessed: and assessed for the purpose. The assessed banks were: Oromia International Bank, Awash International Bank and Cooperative Bank of Oromia.

Commodity type(s) Emergency shelter items, kitchen sets, bedding, clothing, shelter rehabilitation requested by shock- and construction materials, school supplies and dignity items. affected population:

1.2 Needs analysis The assessment found out that, majority of Gedeo IDPs are returning to their place of origin i.e. their respective woerdas in West Giji zone. As the houses of the majority burnet down and their assets are looted, majority of them are living in shelter of neighbor and sharing household items and clothing with them and some of them are living in a shared temporary shelters. During the visit to the IDPs sites, the assessment team observed majority of the shelters are completely burnet down and some are partially damaged; those houses with partial damage have no household items which either burned or looted during the incident.

“I used to have a well-furnished house with small shop which my family depend on, but everything has gone and now we have nothing, we become dependents and affecting the life of our neighbors who are supporting us by sharing shelter clothing and cooking items. …for how long will they support us.” Said a father of five children

Except food which is inadequate provided by government and some NFI supports provided by IRC and ERCS, there is no major support provided to the IDPs and the returned Gedeos. The majority of the IDPs have lost most or all of their household items, and their houses were fully or partially damaged, requiring appropriate shelter and NFI support. Meanwhile, the Ethiopian Red Cross reached up to 2000 households with a variety of NFIs, while the INGO IRC distributed shelters for 710 households in Yirgachefe woreda. IRC also distributed similar quantity of shelter and NFI kits for IDPs in Bule Hora woreda, West Guji zone1.

Burnet shelters, Kercha woreda; Photo by: Mohammed/ IRC

The following table illustrate the finding of FGDs which indicate ES-NFIs and shelter material that are among the critically needed. Most IDPs are willing to rebuild the burnt/destructed houses with support from government or humanitarian actors. The materials include both for immediate use (kitchen sets, clothing, detergents, dignity items, temporary shelter) and reconstruction of shelter (construction materials and tools).

Table 1. ES-NFI and shelter items critically needed by the IDPs S.N Items

Immediate use

1 Plastic sheet

2 Blanket

3 Washing basin

4 Cooking pot

5 Ladle

6 Sleeping mat

7 Bed sheet

8 Jerry can 10 l and 20 l

9 Plates

1 OCHA: West Guji – Gedeo Conflict Displacement Flash Update 2 10 Cloth for students (boys/girls)

11 Cup

12 Jog

13 Rope

14 Body and laundry soap

15 Women cloth (under wear)

16 Sanitary pads

Shelter reconstruction

1 Corrugated Iron Sheet

2 Nails

3 Timber

4 Equliptus pole

5 Tools for construction

Other items

1 Exercise book for students

1.3 Response Modality Preference: IDPs in the four woredas (Bule Hora, Gelalana, Birbirsa and Kercha) are willing to receive aids both in cash and in kind, however most of the FGD participants reflected their preference of cash over in kind. Diversity of needs is the main reason for the IDPs preference of cash. In contrary, some IDPs in Bule Hora and Kercha woredas reflected as in-kid assistance is their preference with fear of travelling to market. Furthermore, zonal and woreda level government representatives recommended cash based or combination of cash and in-kind assistance. Market functionality and urgency of the needs are the two main reasons for the officials.

Conversely, IDPs in Hambela Wamena woreda suggested in kind assistance with the main reason related to accessing market. The average round trip to the main market in nearby woreda takes them half a day and there is no transportation facilities in the area.

Section 2: Market Mapping

2.1 Market maps, geographical location of markets to shock-affected population Among the visited five woredas (Kercha, Bule Hora, Birbirsa Kajewa, Gelana and Hambela Wamena) in the zone, only IDPs located in Hambela Wamena woreda have no access to market and transportation. However, the IDPs in the four woreda are located within an average distance of 1-7 km from the main market in the town. Besides the nearby principal markets, there are two market days in each woredas on which potential retailors travel to each woredas mainly from neighboring woredas and from Bule Hora town. For instance, retailers of Kercha travel to Birbirsa on Wednesday and Saturday; retailors of Bule Hora travel to Kercha; from Yirgachefe and Cheleleqa to Gelana on the weekly market day. According to the IDPs response, there is no access related issue and they can travel to the market any time in the day. Compared to the others, Bule Hora market is the major in the zone by supplying all the needed food and non-food commodities, followed by Kercha and Birbirsa markets. In the four woredas there are shops of non-food items and clothing serving their consumers the whole week. 2.2 ES-NFI market system map Regarding market chain, Bule Hora suppliers get supplies mainly through contraband from Kenaya via while the formal international import is via . Hence consumers in the zone can buy items based on their preference and capacity. Kitchen sets, clothing, dignity items, food items and detergents are the main items imported through the contraband chain. The diagram below illustrates the location of local and influential markets within, and close to the affected area, and their geographic proximity to the shock-affected population. The ES-NFI market system maps below illustrate the movements of key ES-NFIs to the markets near the affected populations/IDPs – from importers to wholesaler to trader and finally to consumer.

Table 2.Average Price of ES-NFIs in West Guji zone S.N Items for Unit Quantity (Cluster Average Total price Comment immediate use level agreed unit price quantity/kit)

1 Plastic sheet Pcs 2 Poor quality & not 380 760 available in bulk 2 Blanket Pcs 2 150 300 3 Washing basin Pcs 1 200 200 4 Cooking pot Pcs 1 250 250 5 Ladle Pcs 1 20 20 6 Sleeping mat Pcs 1 200 200 7 Bed sheet Pcs 2 160 320 Not in cluster list 8 Jerry can 20 l Pcs 1 150 150 9 Plates Pcs 3 20 60 10 Clothing for students Pcs 3 300 900 Average 3 students per HH 11 Cup Pcs 3 15 45 12 Jog/kettle Pcs 1 210 210 13 Body and laundry Pcs 20 10 200 soap 14 Women cloth Pcs 3 50 150 (under wear) 15 Sanitary pads Pad 3 50 150 16 Bucket 20l Pcs 2 60 120 17 Jerry can 10 l pcs 2 50 100 18 Rope mtr 20 10 200 Total for ES-NFI and Dignity items 4,335 Shelter reconstruction materials 1 Corrugated Iron Pcs - 170 Sheet (35 GJ) 2 Nails 7-9 cm Kg - 20-30 3 Timber Pcs - Not available in the market 4 Equliptus pole Pcs - 60-75 medium to arge size 5 Tools for l/s - 350 Pick axe, hammer, construction shovel, hack saw Other supplies 1 Exercise book for l/s 3 100 300 students Figure 1. ES-NFI Market Systems Map of West Guji zone Non-Food Items Market Systems Map, West Guji Zone

The market environment Demand decreases Controlling Controlling price during rainy season of items and fuel contraband Aware HHs on License and trade Import tax Ensuring security of revenue/tax price of items roads

The Market Chain International Whole sellers Distributors (Dilla) Importers (Addis Ababa} Whole sellers Retailers Addis Ababa (shop/market) in Households Commercial Producers Whole sellers Woreda town (Factories) (Bule Hora) Whole sellers Moyale Distributors (contrabandist) Import from Kenya Moyale Retailors (Contraband) (contrabandist) (Bule Hora)

Key Infrastructure and Motor Bicycle Warehouse/s Bank for Market Support Services hop rent Loans Truck and transportation Transport brokers Credit from Oromia Saving and Credit Cash Income Association (Agriculture & Road labor) construction contractors Section 3: Market maps and trader analysis

3.1 The impact of the shock on physical access to markets: Market representatives (woreda revenue) and traders in the four woredas indicated as traders are able to continue their business as usual after the shock. However, there was no or very limited trade movement during and in the first week after the shock. According to Kebele and IDP leaders, the security situation is improving and people have started their usual interaction and movement in their woreda.

Except few Gedeo IDPs in Bule Hora and Kercha who reflected the likelihood of risk associated to movement in and out of market, majority of them indicated as the affected people started travelling in and out of the market without concern. Furthermore, IDPs in Gelana and Birbirsa Kajewa have started their activities and social interaction as usual without any risk since they arrived.

3.2 Affected household purchasing power: Due to the impact of the conflict, almost all of the households have lost both their physical assets (including house), livestock, cash they used to have as well as their engagement in livelihood activities (farming and daily labor) has been impacted. On top of their unmet basic needs (food, clothing, WASH and shelter) which are priority for them, yet IDPs access to cash is very limited as they require tools to engage in income generation activities and the labor network they had built before the shock might require sometimes to re-establish.

Therefore, limited access to cash combined with inadequate humanitarian assistance and inflated market price due to the recent depreciation of ETB has made purchasing power of the IDPs very limited.

3.3 The impact of the shock on the supply chain and price of items (ES-NFI): Due to insecurity during and a week after the shock was very challenging for traders to re-stock the needed commodities. According to traders, it was since mid of May 2018 that all the traders started re-stocking and the weekly market resumed as usual. Traders in Kercha woreda used to re-stock every week from their principal source mainly from Dilla town, however after the shock traders re-stocking frequency has been decreased by more than 50% after the shock. And currently traders are using their alternative market (Bure Hola) as a source, though Bule Hora used to supply materials imported via Moyale. Though they are using the alternative source, there is no change in price of both previously supplied and the recent re-stocked items. Most of the interviewed traders have the capacity to increase ES-NFI supply by more than 50% of the usual demand.

Market representatives also confirmed as the supply of commodities decreased following the reduction in the number of consumers visiting the market. Compared with before shock, the number of consumers visiting a shop has fallen from an average 50 to 15 persons.

The assessment team also observed that, most of the shops and open filed markets are visited by very limited number of consumers during the assessment period. Some of the interviewed consumers indicated as there is no major change on price of items following the shock.

Section 3: Financial Service Providers (FSP):

IRC has been implementing cash based ES-NFI assistance to disaster affected people by using potential FSPs located or with branch in the area of targeted people. Therefore, the FSP assessment was conducted to identify availability of FSPs in the area, capacity, willingness to travel to IDP sites for payment, previous experience on cash transfer and their acceptance by the community.

Oromia International Bank (OIB), Cooperative Bank of Oromoa (CBO), Awash Bank (Awash), Nib Bank, Berhan Bank, Commercial Bank (CBE), Buna Bank and Wegagen are among banks operating in the zone. However, considering the bank’s branch close the affected people; only OIB, Awash, CBO and CBE have brunch in and close to Bule Hora, Kercha, Birbirsa and Gelana woredas. There is no bank in Birbirsa and Gelana woreda, however banks in Kercha are willing to travel to Birbirsa and from Bule Hora to Gelana woreda. Considering speed and competitive behavior of the banks, the assessment team only focused on private banks and assessed capacity of OIB, Awash and CBO. Both banks are among those with better cash holding capacity, high number of client and better financial transaction in the area. During interview with branch managers, all are willing to travel to the sites and pay cash to the affected communities. Except OIB, Awash and CBO doesn’t have previous experience on cash transfer to beneficiaries. The following table illustrate over all capacity, address and willingness.

Table 3. Capacity of FSPs in West Guji zone FSP (Bank) Name Branch Willingness to travel No of Tailors to be No of client a tailor Contact address (tell no.) Availability to IDP site assigned manage/day

OIB (Oromia International Yes Yes 2 150 - Bule Hora (0464431028) Bank) - Kercha (0463242234)

CBO (Cooperative Bank of Yes Yes 1 100 - Bule Hora (0464430245) Oromia) - Kercha (0463242007)

Awash Bank Yes Yes 2 150 - Bule Hora (0464430927) - Kercha (0463242008)

Section 4: Conclusions

Based on the assessment findings and observations, the following conclusions has been made against the objectives of the assessment. 4.1 ES-NFI needs and response modality preference: The basic ES-NFI needs includes emergency shelter materials, kitchen sets, clothing and shelter construction materials.

Based on IDPs, government representatives and community leader response, cash based or combination of Cash and In-kind assistance can be appropriate in the four woredas. However, response analysis need to be conducted in some Bule Hora and Kercha IDP sites on the likelihood of protection risks that could block them from accessing the market.

In general Gelana, Birbirsa, Kercha and Bule Hora woredas can be considered with cash or combination of cash and in-kind, while Hambela Wamena can only be considered with in-kind assistance.

4.2 Market functionality and accessibility: Markets is Gelana, Birbirsa, Kercha and Bule Hora woredas are functional and traders have the capacity to increase supply by morethan 50% if the demand is there. Kercha and Bule Hore woredas have weeklong markets with large capacity, whereas markets of Gelana and Birbirsa are with relative capacity to supply and backed by two weekly market days on which retailers from Chelelektu and Kercha travel to the areas respectively. Though the market needs some cash injection to recover from the impact of the shock. There is no access related concern except as mentioned in section 4.1 above.

4.3 Availability and capacity of FSPs: OIB, CBO and Awash banks are among the potential FSPs in the area with the interest to travel to the IDP sites for cash payment to beneficiaries. Hence, either of the banks can be contacted for the purpose. 4.4 Is Cash Based Assistance feasible? Triangulating the findings of IDPs and government response modality preference, market functionality and accessibility, FSPs availability and in order to activate the local market Cash is the appropriate and feasible response modality in the specified four woredas.

Pictures of assessed markets and shops/Photo by; Yetnayet IRC

Gelana Kercha

Bule Hora