THE SOCIO-ECONOMIC IMPACTS OF DROUGHT AMONG THE PASTORALIST COMMUNITIES OF LIBEN WOREDA

ABSTRACT The purpose of this study is to look into impacts of drought on the socio-economic development of the pastoralist people in Liben woreda East Guji Zone, in Oromiya region. In order to attain the objective of the study the researcher used both quantitative and qualitative research methods and cross-sectional descriptive survey design. The main data sources used were primary and secondary sources. The primary data were collected from livestock owners and informants through questionnaire, key informants and FGD whereas secondary sources were collected from books, journals and annual reports of the woreda.The researcher selected three kebeles out of twelve; the sample items were selected randomly, while purposive sampling used to select key informants. In addition the meteorological data were taken from the National Meteorology Agency of Ethiopia. The rainfall data was analysis using SPI and coefficient variation : The rainfall data of the study area shows that there is a decline trends in precipitation since 1981, the rainfall is highly variable which is erratic and unreliable. The survey results revealed that shortage of rainfall for one or more season has an impact on the livelihood of the communities and which damage their assets. Riptide droughts highly affect the livelihood of the study area, which is predominantly a pastoralist, livestock play a central role. Shortage of pasture, water, market, and prevalence of diseases and cultural view are the main problems for livestock keeping. Drought brought effect on human life and economy. The drought that was observed for the past three decades are periodic drought events in the area, that was highly affected the livelihood of the communities: they loss agricultural products, shifting rain season and, surface and under-ground depletion causing scarcity for animals and humans use For instance, in the 2016 drought event about 40,000 livestock were lost. Governmental and non-governmental organization intervention has been largely through the provision emergency aids with limitation. The intervention started after the death of many livestock .There is no pronounced sustainable measure taken by them. This is because of insufficient finance and low prioritization, and lack of appropriate policy which concerning the pastoralist life style hampered the development of the study area. Thus, to alleviate these problems researcher recommends that drought is a normal occurrence and should be mainstreamed in to development planning.