Review on Patterns and Consequences of Drought in Ethiopia

Due to its complexity and unforeseeable effect in a short period, drought creates troublesome effects on society, the environment, and the economy of the country. Despite this view, systematic reviews on the patterns and consequences of drought in Ethiopia are few; even the reviews did not comprehensively evaluate both the pattern and consequence aspects of drought in Ethiopia. So, this fills the gap. By considering publication date, language, and subject scope, 26 journal articles including reports and previously reviewed articles were used. The result indicated high spatiotemporal variation of drought in Ethiopia. Moreover, most parts of northeastern and rift valley basins of Ethiopia experienced severe drought mainly in 1984, 2009, and 2015. Concerning the socioeconomic consequences, livestock death and crop failure were the main reported problems in Ethiopia. However, environmental consequences of drought in Ethiopia were not investigated in detail. Therefore, socioeconomic and environmental consequences of drought should be investigated.