“Drought, not famine in Ethiopia” – minister

By Tesfa-alem Tekle

Nov 8, 2009 (ADDIS ABABA) – Despite Ethiopia government’s recent appeal for an emergency food aid required to assist 6.2 million of its people, the ministry of agriculture and rural development on Sunday said that the situation in Ethiopia is drought and not famine as stated in some media reports.

“There is definitely no famine in Ethiopia” Mitku Kassa, state agriculture and rural development minister told Sudan Tribune on Sunday. “What we are having is only the cause for famine, drought, and we have taken the current situation under control,” he stressed..

According to the government official, currently there are 150,000 metric tons of food in government reservoirs, enough to handle the shortfalls and large scale distribution to the most affected areas is well under way.

Following an emergency humanitarian appeal by the Ethiopian government last month, a number of international donor groups have swiftly responded to the situation which the minister said were quite promising.

Few days ago, the Finish government through its Embassy in Addis Ababa announced 600,000 Euro immediate allocations in response to the emergency appeal. Other donor groups so far responded include the government of Canada, Denmark, Norway and USAID.

A number of international medias have related and compared the current situation with country’s devastating famine of 1984, a catastrophe which killed an estimated one million people. But Ethiopian officials have reacted to the recent reports saying as inaccurate and over-stated.

In a recent interview with BBC Ethiopia’s Ambassador to Britain, Birhanu kebede said that the situation is nothing like that of the 1984 famine and comparison with it is hugely misleading and deeply damaging nation’s image and its ongoing efforts to build its economy through, tourism, investment and trade.

“There is a serious challenge but there is no reason to believe the situation could turn into catastrophe” said Ambassador Brhanu Kebede

An assessment by a multi-agency team, a national and international drawn group, has also indicated that the current situation in the Horn of Africa’s nation is drought and not severe famine and destitution that threaten a catastrophe.

In a report Oxfam issued, on 22 October it has argued that constant food flow from the West is failing to help starving Africans cope with ever-more frequent droughts and Called for a radical shake-up in the way the world tackled food crises

“No longer should we be chasing each drought with food; we should be acting before the next drought comes”. Oxfam statement said.

Instead, donors should support programs including weather early warning systems, improved roads, food and medicine stockpiles, cheaper than responding under the stress of urgent appeals, and irrigation schemes.

Sending such food aid “does save lives”, Oxfam said. But it is a “knee-jerk reaction” and “the dominance of this approach fails to offer long-term solutions which would break these cyclical and chronic crises”.

“Donors need to shift their approach, and help to give communities the tools to tackle disasters before they strike,” said Penny Lawrence, Oxfam’s international director.

(ST)