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Ethiopians weary of aid 25 years after famine

Farmer Eshete Eneyew threshes maize in Abay, north of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on Wednesday. PHOTO: REUTERS

Farmer Tayto Mesfin remembers the 1984 famine that killed 1 million of his country folk and says his hope for the future is that his children finish university and help Ethiopia feed itself.

“Begging is a shameful practice,” the 55-year-old said, standing in a field lush with healthy wheat, making him one of the country’s luckier growers. “What we need now is skills and training. We don’t need food aid anymore.”

More than 1 million died in 1984, and the suffering provoked the biggest outpouring of charity the world has ever seen.

Tayto Mesfin’s confidence looks premature, as huge numbers of Ethiopians still depend on foreigners for food. The government said inadequate rains meant 6.2 million people needed aid this year and has appealed to the international community to help.

Another 7 million were on a scheme that gave food in exchange for work, which meant more than 13 million of the country’s 83 million people relied on foreign handouts to survive.

Aid agency Oxfam said food aid has trapped Ethiopia into a cycle of dependency and that donations could be better spent.

Ethiopians said they were sick of their image as a famished country and pointed to foreign investors’ growing interest.

“We have a long history to be proud of as Ethiopians,” said Girma Bereket, an engineer, on a flight to Gondar in central Ethiopia. “If we could develop through investment then we could feed ourselves.”

Some experts said climate change could undo progress.

An Oxfam report to mark the 25th anniversary of the famine, Band Aids and Beyond, said drought would be the norm for the next 25 years.

Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi — who will represent Africa at December’s Copenhagen talks on climate change — has demanded compensation for the continent and said European carbon emissions caused the 1984 disaster.

“Ethiopia is a country particularly vulnerable to climate change,” Oxfam spokeswoman Caroline Gluck said. “But drought need not become a disaster if communities are helped to become more resilient to shocks.”

Just 0.14 percent of global aid cash was spent on disaster prevention, Oxfam says.
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