'Let them have cattle'

2006-04-29 22:01

Addis Ababa - A United Nations official has urged Ethiopia not to force its nomadic pastoralists to change their way of life, despite suffering successive droughts.

Ethiopia has been affected by searing droughts in the last few years. Officials say the pastoralists are the worst affected, often losing their entire livestock.

Officials said the pastoralist nomadic life makes its difficult for the herders to receive appropriate government intervention.

The UN secretary-general's special humanitarian envoy for the Horn of Africa, Kjell Magne Bondevik, said: "If the pastoralists opted freely to change their nomadic way of life and become settled farmers, I am for it.

"But if they are forced to change their way of life I am against it."

Bondevik, who is visiting the Horn of Africa to raise awareness of drought in the region, travelled to the Oromiya region on Sunday, where he met pastoralist representatives.

The representatives had walked for three days to meet him.

He said the group had expressed appreciation for the efforts the Ethiopian government was making to improve their livelihood, but wanted greater recognition.

Bondevik said the pastoralists had asked for the creation of a specific ministry to look into their affairs.

- Reuters