In times of crisis, pastoralist communities have traditionally come together to support their weakest and most vulnerable members. A well-established culture of wealth redistribution has ensured that the needy are helped, and the community survives. However, societies impoverished by successive droughts are now finding it harder and harder to provide for their poorest members. Many drought victims have fallen through the gaps in the traditional safety net, and have been forced to abandon their pastoral existence.

Of the estimated 6 million pastoralists in Ethiopia, 1.4 million are Borana, a mainly cattle-herding people who live in the southern region of Borena. The area received less than half its normal rainfall between 1998 and 2000, and is struggling to recover from the effects of long-term drought. Particularly hard hit are the northwestern areas, where less than one percent of the yearly average rainfall was received. The Ethiopian government's Southern Rangelands Development Unit (SORDU) has estimated that up to 60 percent of the Borana's cattle died during this time. Experts on the region say that it could take the Borana more than four years to restore their herds to pre-drought levels, even if weather conditions remain favourable.

In traditional Borana society, the very poor are supported through the "buusa gonaafa" cattle-sharing system. Under this system, impoverished community members are able to request help from the wealthy in the form of cattle, sheep and goats. The support is especially important after periods of drought, when the redistribution of surviving animals can provide hard-hit families with a basis for re-establishing their herds. However, after three successive years of severe drought, cattle populations in Borena are now so low that there are simply not enough to go round.

Following last year's drought, wealthier Borana families were able to save part of their herds, while others lost everything, thus effectively deepening the divide in many communities between rich and poor. Families that managed to save very few, if any, cattle during the drought are now struggling to rebuild their traditional way of life, and shield their fragile societies from complete disintegration.

At the Sunday cattle market in Haro Bakke, 20 km north of Yabelo, a young pastoralist woman, Hawwo Diida, was attempting to sell milk and buy maize to feed her two children. Her family was entirely dependent on pastoralism, and with only 20 head of cattle remaining out of an original herd of 70, she said, "When there is drought, my children may lose everything."

It is vital for drought-stricken pastoralists to be able to restock their herds as quickly as possible. At the Haro Bakke market, young herdsman Yimen Dergo was attempting to sell his one 10 year-old ox, but left without success. He wanted to sell it in order to buy two younger oxen, but the market for cattle was not yet good enough to give him the price he needed, he said.

While local livestock markets provide a possibility for herders to restock with animals with good reproductive potential, with little trading taking place, it will take many years to rebuild an entire herd at this rate, and further drought or disease would stop the recovery in its tracks. Many pastoralists at the market were selling their cattle and restocking with sheep and goats, which, in spite of having a lower social and economic value, reproduce more quickly, and are more resistant to drought than cattle.

Many pastoralists who have lost all their livestock have been forced to abandon their traditional way of life - the only existence they have known. Some have been lucky enough to join kinsmen already settled in the wetter, more fertile areas, and have turned to agro-pastoralism to reduce their dependence on cattle. Others, out of desperation, have migrated to the towns, where they survive through relief hand-outs and begging. Acknowledging the trend towards increasing settlement among the Borana, CARE-Ethiopia, which has been working in Borena since the 1984/85 drought, and the local NGO Action for Development are working to cushion the transition from an exclusively pastoral lifestyle to agro-pastoralism by providing seeds, tools and training. In urban areas, support is being given for the establishment of micro-credit schemes, which are enabling women to start small businesses and purchase supplies for sale on the market. Loans are also being provided to enable women to buy dairy goats, and thereby supplement the diet of their children with fresh milk.

NGOs have also been attempting to respond to the needs of the Borana in a manner compatible with and supportive of their traditional society. CISP, an Italian NGO working in southern Borena, has drilled a number of boreholes to provide water sources in times of drought, and has been able to set up water committees whose structure merges the government and traditional systems. By providing temporary livestock purchasing centres and slaughterhouses, CARE-Ethiopia buys cattle from pastoralists for the production of sun-dried meat (biltong), a scheme that allows for the controlled destocking of cattle during times of drought while also providing pastoralists with a market for their animals, and their families with a valuable food supplement. Before the height of the 2000 drought, CARE-Ethiopia was able to set up a number of such sites where livestock could be bartered for grain.

For some families remaining in possession of cattle, or with access to good agricultural land, the situation is improving, the area having already benefited from some good rains this year - and more is forecast. However, for others with no cattle to sell and no available arable land the future is uncertain. Despite the favourable weather predictions, the poorer groups are pessimistic. "The rains are good, but if we don't have any animals left and no crops what future do we have?" is a sentiment echoed throughout the region.