Training community workers to sustain pastoralist livelihoods
Reuters AlertNet, UK - April 17, 2007
Jemal Adem, a 20-year-old pastoralist, has spent every night in the last seven months away from home, often sleeping on dusty ground, and always surrounded by his camels.
Jemal left his village in Ethiopia's Fentale district in the southern Oromia regional state last September, along with seven relatives, in search of pasture for their livestock. Since then, have reached Shashemene, 297 km from home.
"It was bona [dry season] in our area," he explained. "We went in search of something for our camels to eat."
Grazing their 1,000 camels in the small village of Wokitiu, near the town of Adama, Jemal said he was hoping that the rains that had started falling would persist. "If the rain continues at this pace, it will hasten my return to our village of Jida," he told IRIN ...