The drought has inflicted another toll, doctors and social workers say -- a spike in forced marriages and sexual violence.

UNICEF says child marriages, which are illegal in Ethiopia, have more than doubled in the country's four hardest-hit regions in the first six months of 2022 compared to the previous year.

For many desperate families, marrying off a daughter pays off twice: it reduces the number of mouths to feed, and the dowry given by the husband's family helps cover costs.

Bisharo's dowry was 3,000 Ethiopian birr ($56), said the teenager, who comes from a town outside Gode.

"My parents and my husband's parents have agreed on the marriage deal. I did not know about it. He came to me before the marriage and asked me to marry him but I refused," she said.

The union with the 20-year-old man, who hailed from the same clan as her father and already had a first wife, took place anyway.