Shinile (woreda): History
In mid-2003 Shinile suffered one of the worst shortages of food and water in the Somali Zone for food and water shortage, the Addis Tribune reported 31 October 2003. Products such as milk and butter were rarely available, and health care was virtually non-existent, with only one medical doctor to address the needs of 446,000 refugees.
Shinile along with the neighboring Ayesha and Afdem woredas were reported to have had an outbreak of locusts in April, 2007. Despite extensive spraying in those woredas, an investigation on 3 May revealed 900 hectares near Harewa were still infested. Although measures to control this newly discovered group were taken, authorities predict the eastern part of Ethiopia will be attacked by a swarm in mid-June of that year.
The Ethiopian De-mining Office reported in November 2008 that it had cleared land mines planted in Shinile as part of the four million square meters of land the office had cleared in the Somali Region.