A shift towards decentralised, flexible and adaptive water systems, guided by transition governance, could alleviate current water insecurity in the Somali Region of Ethiopia, according to a report from the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), the world’s largest global agricultural innovation network.
Increased populations of both refugee and host communities, driven by migration, natural population growth and urbanisation, have led to higher demand for water for drinking, cooking and sanitation, the report found. The research focused on five refugee-hosting settlements — Bokolmayo, Melkadida, Kobe, Hilaweyn and Buramino — located near the Ethiopia-Somalia border.
Currently, these settlements host over 350,000 people, including 207,000 refugees in camps and 147,000 members of the surrounding host community, alongside a growing number of internally displaced persons. The Somali Region, where the settlements are situated, experiences two dry and two wet seasons annually, relying heavily on the Genale and Dawa rivers for water.
Over the past two decades, recurring droughts have caused significant livestock losses, pushing pastoralists towards irrigated agriculture along the rivers. During dry seasons, some members of host communities migrate inland in search of water and food for their livestock, while others stay behind to tend to their homes and less mobile residents. Refugees, however, are restricted in their mobility, leaving them more vulnerable during these periods, the CGIAR report said.
In 2023, occasional flooding further devastated communities, destroying homes, agricultural land and infrastructure. Disruptions to water supplies caused by both droughts and floods have forced vulnerable populations to resort to unsafe water sources, increasing the risk of waterborne diseases.
While the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) had previously invested in the region’s water systems, funding has since decreased. Governance responsibilities are being handed over to local and regional authorities. To support this transition, the UNHCR developed the Melkadida Refugee Compact, a four-year government-led local development and climate adaptation plan for the refugee-hosting districts of Bokolmayo and Dollo Ado in the Liban Zone of the Somali Region.
The report highlighted the need to identify priority areas for improving water security and align them with available resources and capacities. Water supply and irrigation systems in the region faced numerous challenges, including weak value chains, high operational costs and overstretched infrastructure. Coupled with the impacts of climate change and weather extremes, these systems have struggled to meet the needs of the population.
However, the report also identified several opportunities to enhance water security. Anticipatory actions, such as identifying locations for water harvesting, upgrading key infrastructure and increasing community trust in climate forecasts, could reduce the impact of disasters and safeguard development gains. Climate change adaptation could be bolstered by locating new clean water sources and developing innovative water utility models.
The report concluded that strengthening value chains, promoting innovation in solar-powered solutions and encouraging local enterprises to address water system gaps could improve resilience to economic stress. It called for new governance approaches to align the region’s needs with organisational capacity and resources.