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Ethiopia
suffered tragically from the famine in 1984. A similar humanitarian crisis
is now looming as the country faces a severe and widespread drought that
continues to desertify the rift valley region on the eastern side of the
highlands.
UN
agencies like the WFP, FAO and WHO estimate that Ethiopia’s 11.3 million
people (18 per cent of the population) are at risk from starvation unless
around 1.4 million metric tons of food assistance is made urgently
available. The cost of this food assistance for 2003 is US$300m – a mere
$2.5 per needy person a month! A further 3 million people are also at risk
and need to be closely monitored. In 2002, Ethiopia received 33 per cent
of food assistance from the EU 33 per cent from the USA and the rest from Japan, Sweden, Germany, the Netherlands,
the UK and various NGOs.
Ethiopia,
with a population of 63 million, is a complex mixture of many distinct
ethnic and linguistic tribes. There are two major religions – the
Orthodox Abyssinian Church and Islam. Although Ethiopia is three times the
size of Germany, it has a road infrastructure not much bigger than a tiny
country such as Luxembourg. Snow-capped mountains, deep gorges, high
(2000m metres) plateau and barren wastelands form its land. Such
geography, coupled with uncertain rainfall, do not facilitate irrigation
and agricultural cultivation. Whilst the Blue Nile and other rivers flow
through the western part, Ethiopia has been unable to harness the water
because of geopolitical difficulties. The civil war with Eritrea and a
period of Marxist rule diverted and depleted scarce financial and human
resources.
EU
aid is especially appreciated by Ethiopia as EU cash is used to purchase
grain produced internally by farmers in the western part of Ethiopia. It
is tragic that lack of roads prevent the food surplus from the western
part of Ethiopia to be distributed to the Afar State in the North East,
the Eastern Oromiya State, the Somali State in the South East, and the
Northern states of Amhara and Tigray.
During
my recent Parliamentary visit, I witnessed the extreme barren conditions
of two villages in the Arsi Region (Oromiya State) where almost a thousand
people squatted on hot sand for almost a day to receive meagre rations for
the month – 12.5Kg for those who are starving and 15Kg for those with
serious illnesses! I talked to several villagers and asked if they could
identify their single most important need. Each time they said:
“Water”. When asked about their second most important need they said:
“Seed”. These villagers walk 7 miles each way to fetch water and the
little they can carry is used exclusively for drinking, cooking and for
their animals. There is no surplus for washing or sanitation. I did not
have the courage to ask if they cared for democracy, human rights or the
environment – the look in their eyes conveyed their desperation and fear
of survival.
Ethiopia’s
appeal for food assistance needs immediate action and I hope the EU will
act without delay. However, food assistance on its own is not enough to
help Ethiopia to be self-reliant. There is a need to assist in programmes
for extending the rural infra-structure – only 4 per cent of the country
is accessible by paved roads. We need to help them build shallow wells,
bore holes, reservoirs and dams for water conservation as rainfall is so
erratic and unpredictable. The national health budget allocates $1.5 per
person per annum – not enough to buy a treatment dose of most
antibiotics! The HIV/AIDS pandemic spreads fastest in conditions of social
instability, conflict, poverty and powerlessness. Ethiopia’s cattle
population of almost 28 million require veterinary medicines to prevent
widespread disease and death. Education is inaccessible to children in
rural areas and this seriously affects the country’s capacity to build a
pool of skills that will help to achieve national self-reliance.
We
visited a privately run dairy farm that produces an excellent range of
milk, butter, cheese and yoghurt which is sold domestically and exported
to neighbouring countries. We also visited a rose farm using modern
irrigation and fertilisation techniques to yield good crops of high value
roses for export. These privately run projects offer proof that targeted
assistance in agro-processing can realise substantial value added and
benefit for poor countries.
It
is time that the EU examines carefully its policies on aid for each
country. It must determine the best way to use funds and technical
expertise to exploit natural resources, including human resources, to
maximise benefit for the rural populations. Each percentage growth in
agriculture can finance a 2 per cent growth in industrial production. In
this way there would be, over time, a shift from agriculture to
agro-industry and other industries. Help to achieve food sufficiency and
self-reliance must be the primary aims of all development assistance.
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