Initially, when the famine in 1974 and then again in 1984 happened, the plain excuse given was bad weather. The reasons included failure of the meher {primary rains} as well as belg {secondary rains} in the same year. In 1999, the reason given by the government was that the second belg failure resulted in farmers planting teff and pulses instead of the regular cereal crops which accounted for 40% of the annual cereal crop production in the hope of the meher rains. Their late erratic and inconsistent arrival damaged both the farmer’s hopes as well as the crops.
A research team estimated that 510000 people in north Wello region alone required assistance.
But the question to be answered is- that all over the world several countries face problems of bad weather {example: global warming}, then why has Ethiopia been through the disaster of a famine not once, not twice but thrice in the past three decades. Various studies and researches have revealed that there were various political as well as social factors that were responsible for these famines.
- Firstly the civil wars in the country resulted in the government concentrating solely on finding solutions to the war rather than on the economic progress of the country.
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Secondly after the first two famines, the “developed countries” started dumping their highly subsidized exports in Ethiopia. As a result the local market suffered greatly. This has also discouraged Ethiopians from being self-reliant.
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Also, in the Wello region subsistence farming was a main characteristic of the farmers. This meant that they lived from hand to mouth. As a result even a slightest fluctuation in the weather caused a great deal of damage, as they had no reserve food or money to sustain them.
- The Ethnic rivalry between the people of “North Ethiopia” and “South Ethiopia” also caused various hindrances in bringing about social reform.
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After the first two famines, the government tried to solve the problems by relocating people to different parts of the country, many times forcibly, and due to the bitterness that existed between the various ethnic groups the efforts of the government proved to be a disaster.
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Also it is widely acknowledged that foreign countries have promised more but given less to the continent of Africa.
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The third famine in particular can be called an effect of government planning failure because after having faced the severity of the previous famines it should have been up to the government to find a permanent solution to this problem, which has been occurring time and time again.
So what are the possible solutions to this problem?
Every time a famine has occurred, the government has distributed food for sometime, foreign aid came in little and slowly for a short period of time and the people of the Wello region have sold their livestock, all of their assets to cope with the immediate situation due to which they have no financial backing to help them survive in the future years.
One thing is for certain that a long-term solution needs to be thought of and implemented to ensure that another famine does not occur and take the lives of millions again. A permanent solution is needed to visualize an Ethiopia which is has the food to feed its population, an Ethiopia which is on its path of progress.
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Most of the population in Ethiopia depends directly or indirectly on agriculture. So the availability of water plays a very crucial role in the life of the Ethiopians. Large-scale irrigation projects are simply not a feasible option as Ethiopia lacks the financial power as well as the infrastructure to implement them. Thus to ensure the availability of water during droughts, micro- irrigations projects need to be implemented with individuals or farmers’ groups
- Efficiency of the government needs to improve by leaps and bounds.
- Promised aid and not export subsidies has to come in
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Equal distribution of the food is necessary. This can be done on the basis of need as distribution on the basis of ability to pay defies logic in a country where incomes of the people are rapidly falling and distribution on the basis of lottery is not a logically correct option for an essential commodity like food.
- Farmers should not be encouraged to continue with subsistence farming as this can cause a repeat of the previous disasters.
The study of the famines in Ethiopia in particular the Wello region reminds us that a famine is not just an economic condition. It includes various political, social, cultural factors. A complete study of any famine has to include these factors as only then can a permanent solution be found.