INTER -AGENCY DROUGHT ASSESSMENT IN LOWER JUBA REGION OF SOMALIA JANUARY 2017 INTER-AGENCY DROUGHT ASSESSMENT IN LOWER JUBA REGION – JANUARY 2017 Table of contents Executive summary -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2 Key findings --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2 Recommendations --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3 Acronyms, abbreviations and definitions of Somalia terminologies --------------------------- 6 Acknowledgement ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7 Introduction /context of the inter-agency assessment -------------------------------------------- 8 Methodology ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 9 Assessment findings -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 10 Impact of drought ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 10 Findings by cluster ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 10 Food Security and Livelihoods --------------------------------------------------------------- 10 Education ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 12 Nutrition -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 13 Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) --------------------------------------------------- 15 Health --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 17 Shelter --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 18 Protection------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 19 1 | Page INTER-AGENCY DROUGHT ASSESSMENT IN LOWER JUBA REGION – JANUARY 2017 Executive Summary The inter-agency assessment was carried out to understand the impact of drought in the Lower Juba region and to identify priority areas of need and intervention. The methodology used in developing the assessment involved organising meetings with participating agencies and travelling to villages and settlements to interview key respondents and to observe conditions of affected areas. This was followed by the recording, analysis and cleaning of collected data as well as report writing. The assessment was carried out during the period from 14 November 2016 to 22 January 2017 targeting 30 villages1 located in Dhobley, Afmadow and Kismayo districts of Lower Jubba region. Key findings by Cluster Drought has affected 109,640 people, 21,598 (19.69 per cent) of whom have been displaced to other areas and districts. A majority of respondents (74 per cent) have attributed the current crisis to a combination of drought, diseases and insecurity. Food Security and Livelihoods • 96 per cent of targeted respondents have lost at least one animal from disease, drought or a combination of both; the cost of buying food commodities has increased by approximately 50per cent while the price of livestock has fallen by 30-50 per cent. To cope with the effects of the drought, most households have started to take personal loans or reduce the number of meals they take per day. Education • 48 per cent per cent of assessed villages did not have schools or learning spaces. Besides, barriers to access to education include; lack of learning spaces and schools, lack of money to cover for school fees, long commuting distances to school, restrictions imposed by non- state actors, absence of school feeding programmes and poor condition of water and sanitation facilities. Nutrition • 62 per cent of respondents acknowledged a deterioration of the nutritional status among children and women, a decline in breastfeeding of children; long commuting distances to nutritional centers, failure by households to identity malnutrition among children or administer proper feeding practices. Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) • While 81 per cent per cent of respondents stated having access to water, the quality of water they accessed was poor (54 per cent) or inadequate in terms of quantity (38 per cent) or irregular supply (8 per cent) as systems broke down, contained high salt content or was contaminated. Poor rains has caused water scarcity, a tenfold increase in water cost,2 drying-up of surface rainwater harvesting system (water pans) and hand-dug wells and conflict over the use of water; 1Ceel dhiig, Goobweyn, Khamkham Villages North of Kismayo Town; Kaanbooni, Kudhaa, Madhawe, Kulbyow,Hoola, Waraq, Hosingo, Hida, Diideey, Buurgaabo in Badhadhe, Yaaq Raar Gumad, Abdle Biroole, in Kismayo, Fanole,Danwadaag, Farjano,Wamo in Afmadow and Dhobley town. 2 from USD 0.086-0.86) for a 20 liter container of water 2 | Page INTER-AGENCY DROUGHT ASSESSMENT IN LOWER JUBA REGION – JANUARY 2017 • While most respondents (45.55 per cent) stated accessing latrines, they were shared among an average of five households. Most latrines were located further away from houses, lacked adequate lighting thus hampering access by women and girls; water scarcity has forced people to travel long distances (30 to 120 kilometers) in search of water; • Overall, people now use less water i.e. 3 liters per person by day compared to the recommended quantity of 7 liters. Health • Despite the fact that respondents acknowledged having access to a wide range of health facilities,3 most facilities were either in poor structural condition, understaffed, lacked essential equipment or were overcrowded. Shelter • The shelter condition for all assessed communities was poor because most houses were built of materials that cannot shield household members from rain, dust and heat. Most respondents lived in collective makeshift temporary shelters or traditional shelter or report being homeless. Protection • The most affected social groups are women and girls (43 per cent), persons with disabilities (17 per cent), men and boys (17 per cent), the elderly (13 per cent) and minority groups (10 per cent); • Besides, the absence of land-tenure agreements means that residents of IDP camps can be evicted on a short notice; largely, IDP women and girls cannot afford buying dignity kits; • Female genital mutilation (FGM), early and forced marriages are still being practiced and is a contributing factor to girls dropping-out of schools especially at secondary school level; • Health facilities lacked personnel and care services for supporting survivors of sexual gender-based violence. Recommendations by Cluster Food Security and Livelihoods • Implement conditional and unconditional cash assistance to revitalise financial assets; • Implement income generation projects such as re-stocking of livestock to benefit pastoral dropouts; implement vocational skill training targeting unemployed youth, women and girls to revitilise skills on fishing, dairy production, culinary, tailory, operation and maintenance of machinery; • Supply equipment to farmers and small businesses; provide agricultural inputs including seeds and tools to farmers in riverine areas; implement vaccination and treatment of livestock against diseases such as foot and mouth, tick borne, brucellosis and trypanosomiasis; • Carry out an in-depth vulnerability analysis to fully understand the impact of drought on people and their livelihoods assets. 3 mother child health (MCH) centers, public health care units (PHCU) and hospitals 3 | Page INTER-AGENCY DROUGHT ASSESSMENT IN LOWER JUBA REGION – JANUARY 2017 Education • Improve enrollment rate in schools by advocating for the expansion of school feeding programmes, payment of school fees for children who come from low-income households and provision of learning materials; • Enhance teacher training, provide salary subsidy for teachers to retain teaching staff especially female teachers; construct additional classrooms and improve access to safe WASH services in schools; • Strengthen linkages between the Education Cluster and other clusters notably, the Protection Cluster on child-friendly spaces; • Build the capacity of community education committees (CECs) to improve liaison and management of schools. Nutrition • Improve nutritional status for children, lactating and pregnant mothers through the supply of nutritious foods and treatment for severe acute malnutrition (SAM) and moderate acute malnutrition (MAM); • Increase coverage of targeted supplementary feeding programme (TSFP); introduce family protection food programme for severely malnourished children at outpatient therapeutic program (OTP) to prevent sharing of therapeutic foods and defaulting on OTP; • Strengthen the integration of Nutrition into Health and WASH programming; train community groups and health workers on the importance of therapeutic products, community mobilization strategies, community-based management of acute malnutrition (CMAM) programming; • the process of identifying and how to refer malnourished children; the importance of hospital delivery, breastfeeding and scale up on-going infant and young child feeding (IYCF) interventions. Water, Sanitation and Hygiene • Commence water trucking to the most affected villages particularly in Badhaadhe, Afmadow and Kismayo districts; • Rehabilitate and construct household level berkads in areas that depend exclusively on rain water and water trucking; target coastal towns, Kulbiyow, Hida, Abdille Birrole,