Over the years
the name Ethiopia has become synonymous with Famine and Drought – but Ethiopia
as a country offers so much more.
The severe drought and food
shortage currently being experienced in Ethiopia has been caused by the failure
of the Belg and Kirmet rains. Climatic change and crop failure are also to
blame. However, it is important to stress that the drought is presently
affecting the southern part of Ethiopia (which includes 10.5 million people –
13%
of the population) as well as one or two areas in the north. It does not affect
the whole country and has no correlation to the war that was being waged on the
northern tip of the border.
Over the years the name
Ethiopia has become synonymous with ‘famine and drought’, but Ethiopia is an
extremely large country covering many miles of diverse terrain and has much more
to offer than the distressing images of starving children and skeletal frames
often portrayed by the western media. Small wonder visitors are often astonished
at the lushness of the Ethiopian countryside. Having been fed heavy doses of
famine stories by the western media they expect Ethiopia to be little more than
a dustbowl, so are fascinated by the thickness and density of the lush, green
vegetation that appear during their trips throughout the country.
The recent food shortage bears
no relation to the famine of 1984. The overthrow of the Derg regime in 1991
brought about a democracy for Ethiopia, which with improvements in agriculture
and infrastructure coupled with favourable climatic conditions, meant Ethiopia
was able to export food to neighbouring countries in both 1996 and 1997.
The recent drought in southern
Ethiopia did not happen suddenly, the situation was monitored over a period of
three to four years and appeals for aid from the donor community were made
months in advance. For example, the DPPC appealed for aid from the international
community regarding the ongoing rain failures several years before the disaster
occurred. The Government of Ethiopia also appealed for a total of 898,936 tonnes
of food and pledged 100,000 MT. Consequently, had the international community
responded a lot sooner, a disaster of this proportion would never have occurred.
Overall the chief aim is food
security for all and since 1991the Government of Ethiopia has been working
steadily towards this goal. Several measures have been taken in order to avert a
repeat of the situation in 1984. For example: the building of roads to
facilitate the movement of supplies throughout the country, the funding of
various institutions and programmes for the improvement of crop yields and
survivability and the reestablishment of the DPPC (Disaster Prevention and
Preparedness Commission) formerly known as the Relief and Rehabilitation
Commission. The DPPC, through its Emergency Food Security Reserve provides
relief food in emergencies on a loan basis. However, when the drought occurred
its reserves were depleted by loans of grain provided to western donor countries
and aid agencies, to date only a percentage of the borrowed stock has been
returned – in fact 216,000 of the original 305,000 tons.
(For the full text of
this story refer to the frequently asked questions on the drought in our
briefings section.)
Ethiopians all over the world
are doing there best to turn the situation around. For example, fundraising
initiatives put on by the Ethiopian communities themselves have been sprouting
all over the globe and most have been extremely successful. The Ethiopian
Embassy in Stockholm raised 25,000 Swedish kroners, members of the Ethiopian
community in Rome and its environs raised a sum of over ten million lira,
Ethiopians in Washington DC contributed USD 400,000. Other contributors were
Djibouti with a pledge of USD15, 338. Beijing also donated a sum of 46,000 birr
and the Ethiopian community and Embassy in London raised more that £150,000.
The AACC (Addis Ababa Chamber of Commerce) recently organised a fundraising
telethon, the results of which we are awaiting.*
So far, there has been rainfall
in the drought areas in the months from May to July 2000 as predicted by the
Drought Monitoring Center for Eastern and Southern Africa (DMC). In addition, as
regards relief distribution, 99,912MT of food was transported to
drought-affected areas in the country, 84,683MT was transported by the DPPC; the
remainder was delivered by NGO’s.
*It has raised 296,000 birr so
far.