IUCW SAHEL PROGRAMME STUDY FIGHTING FOR SURVIVAL INSECURITY, PEOPLE AND THE ENVIRONMENT IN THE HORN OF AFRICA EDITED BY ROBERT A. HUTCHISON, BASED ON ORIGINAL RESEARCH AND COMPILATION BY BRYAN SPOONER AND NIGEL WALSH AN IUCN PUBLICATION, NOVEMBER 1001 FIGHTING FOR SURVIVAL was prepared in collaboration with the United Nations Environment Pro• gramme. Copyright: ©1991 International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources, Gland, Switzerland. Reproduction of this publication for educational or other non-commercial purposes is authorised without prior permission from the copyright holder. Reproduction for resale or other commercial purposes is prohibited without prior written permission of the copyright holder. Citation: Hutchison, R.A. (Ed.). 1991. Fighting For Survival etc, based on study by Spooner, B.C. and Walsh, N.; IUCN, Gland, Switzerland. ISBN: 2-8317-0077-9 Cover design: Philippe Vallier, HL Graphics,1260 Nyon, Switzerland, based on photography by Mark Edwards: two men in sandstorm, Tigray, northern Ethiopia. Graphics: Dan Urlich, Leysin Design Studio, 1854 Leysin, Switzerland. Printed by: Imprimerie Corbaz S.A., 1820 Montreux, Switzerland. The designations of geographical entities in this book, and the presentation of the material, do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of IUCN or other participating organisa• tions concerning the legal status of any country, territory, or area, or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. The views expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of IUCN or other participating organisations. IUCN - The World Conservation Union Founded in 1948, IUCN - The World Conservation Union - is a membership organisation comprising governments, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), research institutions, and conservation agencies in over 100 countries. The Union's mission is to provide leadership and promote a common approach for the world conservation movement in order to safeguard the integrity and diversity of the natural world, and to ensure that human use of natural resources is appropriate, sustainable and equitable. Several thousand scientists and experts from all continents form part of a network supporting the work of its Commissions: threatened species, protected areas, ecology, environmental strategy and planning, environmental law, and education and communication. Its thematic programmes include forest conservation, wetlands, marine ecosystems, plants, and population and natural resources. Regional programmes include the Sahel, Antarctica, and Eastern Europe. The Union's work is also supported by twelve regional and country offices located principally in developing countries. The IUCN Sahel Programme The Sahel Programme stems from a resolution adopted by the IUCN General Assembly in 1984. Development of the Sahel Programme, which became operational in 1988, has been in close cooperation with representatives of the ten Sahelian countries covered by the Programme - Burkina Faso, Chad, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Senegal, Somalia and Sudan - and with the Swiss, German and Nordic aid agencies as the principal sponsors. The long-term objectives of the IUCN in the Sahel are to develop ways to manage living natural resources that better correspond to prevailing climatic conditions and which permit sustainable development to take place. The Programme also aims to help preserve the biological diversity of the Sahel and to monitor the changes taking place. The Programme sees its role as a catalyst in stimulating and helping governmental and non• governmental institutions to achieve these ends. For further information about the IUCN Sahel Programme, please write to: Sahel Programme Coordinator, IUCN Headquarters, Avenue du Mont-Blanc, 1196 Gland, Switzerland Acknowledgements While preparing this report, the authors interviewed scores of people from many countries whose comments, knowledge and advice were freely given and grate• fully received. To list them individually would require several pages, but each helped make the report more complete and more accurate. In addition, a number of specialists in the fields of international aid, development and nature conservation were asked to review the manuscript. They include Susanna Davies, Robin Mearns and Jeremy Swift of the Institute of Development Studies at the Univer• sity of Sussex; Nicholas Winer, regional representative for the IUCN Programme in eastern Sahel; Professor Jon Martin Trolldalen, Department of Geography, University of Oslo; Camilla Toulmin and Jules Pretty of the International Institute for Environment and Development, London; and Chris Roche of the Agency for Cooperation and Research in Development, London. Their criticisms were also gratefully received and contributed to producing a better ordered and more focused document. The critical comments provided by Dr. Tewolde Berhan Gebre Egziabher, director of the Ethiopian National Conservation Strategy Sec• retariat, were invaluable in preparing the Ethiopian sections as well as for their sensitivities regarding key issues facing the region as a whole. Adrian Wood of the Department of Geographical and Environmental Sciences, Huddersfield Polytechnic, merits special appreciation for his in-depth analysis of the text, particularly in pointing out areas where additional clarification was needed. Finally, without the assistance of Yohannes Abraham, a former relief worker with the Catholic Relief Services in Ethiopia, and Ato Gobena Balcha, a former assistant to Wildlife Conservation International in Ethiopia, the report would not have been as balanced or readable. Both opened doors that otherwise might have remained closed and contributed many hours of painstaking review in preparing the final version. Foreword It is no longer possible in today's world to talk of ignorance as the root of environmental problems. Environmental degradation stems from a host of fac• tors, both human and natural. As we have come to better understand them, we have learned that, given an appropriate legislative base, environmental problems caused by human activity can be dealt with. But in the process we have found that solutions must be sought at the levels concerned if the results are to be long- lasting. This means that the causes of industrial pollution must be dealt with by industrialists before ecologists can repair the damage to the environment. Likewise, political or socio-economic problems require political, sociological or economic solutions. The Horn of Africa is an extreme case. The IUCN's Sahel Programme has been operating there since 1988. The programme's staff have been struck by the incongruity of the region's suffering. The Horn possesses all the resources needed to make it one of Africa's major economic centres and yet there seems to be no halting the environmental decay and insecurity it engenders. In fact, when one looks at the Horn's problems, one can only conclude that urgent and well- directed international action is needed to prevent a mega-disaster. Since the outside world became aware of the 1974/75 famine, international relief and donor agencies have expended so much energy and resources in the Horn with so little results. It is obvious that existing aid and relief projects are not bringing the people of the Horn any closer to the goal of sustainable development. One reason is the political factor. During the past three decades, legislators in the Horn have rarely marched to the same drum beat as the people they govern. Due to an often unenlightened management of the environment, or its wilful misman• agement to extract short-term economic gain, and confrontational rather than conciliatory policies, the squandering of the region's resources has gathered speed. Wanting to understand the interlinking factors impeding sustainable devel• opment in the Horn, the IUCN commissioned this study. It provides a historical analysis of environmental degradation in the region and establishes an inventory of forcing factors that are contributing to a declining quality of life and growing insecurity. The IUCN feels it should share these findings by bringing FIGHTING FOR SURVIVAL into the public domain. The report provides no ready-made solutions, but its intention is to open a debate that we hope will reach the highest levels of government in what is perhaps the world's most disaster-prone and war-torn region. Sir Shridath Ramphal, President, IUCN - The World Conservation Union. List Of Figures And Table 1 Political Boundaries Inside Front Cover 2 Transportation Infrastructure Inside Back Cover 3 Physical Resources 12 4 Recent Rainfall Isohyets 18 5 Variations in the Height of Nile Flood 24 6 Mean of Annual Maximum Levels at Roda Gauge 24 7 Main Ethnic Groups 34 8 Sudan Administrative Boundaries 52 9 Ethiopia Administrative Boundaries 64 10 Eritrea Administrative Boundaries 74 11 Somalia Administrative Boundaries 80 12 Relationships of Time and Space with Climate 88 13 Complex of Factors Affecting Climate 88 14 Surplus Grain and Other Potential Export Crop Production 108 15 Generalised Land Use Patterns 122 16 Mineral and Other Non-Agricultural Resources 130 17 Conflict, Movement and Displacement 148 18 Generalised Settlement Patterns 154 Table 1 Chronology of Droughts and Famines 23 6 Contents Acknowledgements 3 Foreword 5 List Of Figures And Table 6 Preface 9 PART 1 THE LEGACY OF HISTORY Chapter 1 Introduction To Crisis 13 Chapter 2 Diversity Of People And Cultures 25