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    • Opinion
    • Focus On: Land Matters

    No ordinary year in Ethiopia: It's a 'code red' and must be treated like one

    The international community must respond urgently to the severe drought in Ethiopia, writes John Graham, Save the Children's Ethiopia director, in this exclusive guest column.

    By John Graham // 19 November 2015

    On the dusty plains outside Erer in Ethiopia’s east, the rotting carcasses of cows, goats, donkeys and camels bake under the hot African sun, fodder for hungry vultures and stealthy hyenas.

    Until recently 40-year-old Jama and his family called these lands home, and had done for generations.

    But about a month ago Jama, his wife, mother and their 10 children made the difficult choice to sell their possessions and abandon these lands and their pastoral life. They were forced out when all but 10 of their 450 goats and cattle died from the drought.

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    • Humanitarian Aid
    • Agriculture & Rural Development
    • Ethiopia
    Printing articles to share with others is a breach of our terms and conditions and copyright policy. Please use the sharing options on the left side of the article. Devex Pro members may share up to 10 articles per month using the Pro share tool ( ).
    The views in this opinion piece do not necessarily reflect Devex's editorial views.

    About the author

    • John Graham

      John Graham

      John Graham is the country director for Save the Children in Ethiopia. He has been working in the country since 1997, but his first involvement with Ethiopia goes back to before the 1984 famine when he supported cross-border operations into the liberated zones in Tigray and Eritrea. In his current role he leads Save the Children's diverse programming in Ethiopia addressing education, health, food security, HIV/AIDS prevention/education and saving newborn lives.

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