Ethiopia Deal Drought: Worst In 50 Years 75% of all harvests have been lost since the lack of rain began

Ethiopia is suffering, and the news media isn't talking about it.

The Lion of Africa is suffering, and the news media isn't talking about it. In the 1980s, when famine-ravaged Ethiopia needed help, the world responded. That's not happening this time, and conditions are now worse in-country than were seen at the height of those troubled times.

Unfortunately, it's expected to get worse. Promised rains failed to materialize, and the crops are dying and livestock is suffering. Worst of all, hundreds of thousands of children and their families are at high risk of malnourishment. Even though the nation took steps to prepare for the worst once the famine of 1983-85 ended, large swaths of the country are in dire need of help from the international community.

Statistics On The Ethiopian Drought

Unless rain comes, the predictions are dire for this country. So far, 75% of all harvests have been lost since the lack of rain began. One million livestock have already died. With no way to sustain these animals, small farmers have had no choice but to cull their herds. Those early decisions are adding up and increasing the risk of food insecurity.

And, that food insecurity is a very real threat. Currently, 430,000 children are at high risk of experiencing malnutrition in the very near future. Of course, so are their families. Before the drought ends, it is expected that somewhere between 10 and 15 million Ethiopians will require at least some sort of food assistance. That's hard to accept for these proud people.

Causes Of The Ethiopian Drought

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This current year is one of the driest in East Africa since 1950/51. For two consecutive growing seasons, the rains did not materialize. Because of the effects of climate change, droughts and extended periods of dryness are affecting this region of the world. As temperatures continue to rise globally, the countries of East Africa have become increasingly vulnerable.

However, it is not just the changes in the weather that are causing water shortages. Politics plays a large part in the problem, as well. Since most of the rural areas of Ethiopia rely on wells and cisterns for their daily water needs, when water levels drop, the concentration of contaminants often become too high for it to be safe to drink. The disease often runs from village to village as a direct result of lower levels of water.

The politics of water has impacted the problem in a major way. Before the water from the Nile was subdivided and sent to so many different nations, Ethiopia had an abundant supply of water to nourish its people and its crops. Today, it only receives a trickle of the river: Not enough to sustain itself when the rains fail to deliver on their promise. When El Nino arises and gives a blast of hot air to this struggling nation, the resources are not there to deal with a problem of this magnitude.

Ethiopia is suffering, and the news media isn't talking about it.

After the famine in the 1980s, steps were taken by the Ethiopian government to protect its people should condition once again worsen. That's one of the reasons the press hasn't been reporting on the problem. No one expected the problem to become so large. However, it has, and the nation requires help.

In some cases, entire families have been forced to flee their homes and move to refugee camps set up for the purpose. Once there, they are given access to basic life necessities such as food, water, shelter and hygiene. However, in many far-flung reaches of the country, there is no help readily available.

In many of these communities, children are dropping out of school to trek long miles to fetch water. Gone for long hours each day, these kids head out in the morning for the nearest well still bearing water and return home late at night carrying their heavy burden. The sad truth is that another generation of children from Ethiopia are losing their best chance at escape from poverty since they can no longer receive an education.

Efforts to distribute food and water supplies to these regions that are often plagued by conflict are underway. For many small farmers, the fear is returning as they remembered the high death toll from the famine thirty years ago. No one wants a replay of that time when entire villages died due to the spread of diseases brought on by unsanitary conditions.

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Currently, the government of Ethiopia is asking for $1.4 billion dollars in aid to help its people. While the plans made in the aftermath of the famine in the 80s have curtailed some of the worst effects of the drought, those plans simply are not enough to deal with the magnitude of the problem. As food, water and supplies are brought into the country, the nation struggles to distribute it to prevent the loss of life and maintain public health.

What Can You Do To Help Ethiopia?

Ethiopia can take care of its people during this drought, but it cannot do it on its own. It has asked countries like the United States for help, and those nations are doing everything that they can. However, even this is not enough.

Fortunately, in the thirty years between the famine and this current drought, Ethiopia experienced a period of robust growth. During that time, the nation invested in its infrastructure. It now has an excellent road system and made improvements in the agricultural sector. That wise investment means that donations can now be rapidly sent to areas that are afflicted the worst.

Help Ethiopia Deal Drought: Worst In 50 Years

Ethiopia is suffering, and the news media isn't talking about it.

However, the country remains fragile. Since the nation has proved to be a leader in its region in the recent past, hopes are high that help will come to keep this proud nation on its upward spiral. And, you can help.

Consider making a donation here to help Ethiopia in its time of need. Your donations will be used to provide food, water, and sanitation to prevent deaths from infectious disease. The Lion needs your help, and it needs it now.

Can USAID's disaster team avert catastrophe in Ethiopia? | Devex

By Michael Igoe @AlterIgoe31 March 2016

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Women travel the arid landscape of Ethiopia. The U.S. Agency for International Development has deployed a disaster assistance response team — or DART — to the country, where El Nino-induced weather extremes are wreaking havoc on livelihoods, food and water systems. Photo by: Morgana Wingard / USAID / CC BY-NC

The U.S. Agency for International Development has deployed a disaster response team to Ethiopia, where there is a “crucial window of time” to avert the worst impacts of a drought, according to the agency’s disaster chief. The disaster assistance response team — or DART — traveled to Ethiopia on March 3.

El Nino-induced weather extremes are wreaking havoc on livelihoods, food and water systems across Ethiopia. While the situation has yet to escalate into a full-blown famine, the current drought is considered worse than that which contributed to the devastating 1984 Ethiopian famine, which — together with human rights abuses — killed roughly half a million people.

USAID’s DART teams are better known for mobilizing in the wake of a catastrophic event — dropping into Nepal’s post-earthquake rubble, for example, or scrambling to save lives in the aftermath of a typhoon.

In this case, they will take on a more preventative role. With El Nino’s worst impacts still looming in East Africa, USAID hopes the DART can leverage its logistical and personnel capabilities to set up a “series of firewalls” that prevent people from losing what they have, said Jeremy Konyndyk, director of the Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance.

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"With the announcement of the DART, we are acting to prevent a major humanitarian crisis and protect Ethiopia's hard-earned development progress," said USAID Administrator Gayle Smith in a statement at the time of the deployment.

Many of USAID’s development programs have “emergency modifiers” built into them, Konyndyk said. These allow for extra emergency funding to flow to a country if an emergency occurs, in order to protect the development investments USAID makes around the world. “That’s a practice we’re now using quite broadly within our resilience programming,” Konyndyk said.

When nongovernmental organizations began sounding the alarm about a failing rainy season last summer, USAID began activating those “emergency modifier” resources. The agency deployed some emergency response personnel in the fall and increased the planned size of its Ethiopia portfolio.

“That has all helped, but we saw the numbers continue to grow and the crisis continue to worsen,” Konyndyk said. “The launch of the DART was a recognition that there was a need for a further surge of support to prevent potentially catastrophic outcomes over the summer … We still have a crucial window of time over the next few months.”

The “firewall” model Konyndyk described involves a series of interventions to prevent a series of cascading negative impacts. To prevent livelihood loss, USAID provides seed and livestock investments for farmers. When people cannot support themselves, the agency provides food aid to prevent malnutrition. And when moderate malnutrition occurs, the agency intervenes with acute malnutrition treatment. The idea is to stop that chain at its earliest point in as many instances as possible. Getting on top of the situation before it deteriorates makes that more likely.

“This is a crisis. There’s no question, and it’s going to be a big challenge. But whether it devolves into a catastrophe in terms of human impact, that’s what we’re trying to avert,” Konyndyk said.

There is some light at the end of the tunnel, the aid official said. The next rainy season is projected to be “fair, if not good,” and that means that if USAID is successful in building out its seed distribution networks, the next harvest cycle should be good enough for farmers to start reversing some of the downward trends.

But for that to happen, USAID needs to devote resources and attention to the crisis now, not after it has deteriorated into something much worse, he said. And without the news hook of a full-blown catastrophe to point to, it is not always easy to compel public — or budgetary — attention. That is “ironic,” considering that with slow onset crises there is often a greater opportunity to save lives than when there is with sudden, catastrophic events, Konyndyk said.

“In a natural disaster — an earthquake or a typhoon — most of the people who are going to die or be severely affected have already been affected by the time the media coverage starts,” Konyndyk said.

“A crisis like this — which we can see coming — that early awareness and early resourcing is crucial, because the lifesaving potential is much, much greater, even though the crisis itself is not always as sexy.”

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About the author

Michael Igoe@AlterIgoe

Michael Igoe is a global development reporter for Devex. Based in Washington, D.C., he covers U.S. foreign aid and emerging trends in international development and humanitarian policy. Michael draws on his experience as both a journalist and international development practitioner in Central Asia to develop stories from an insider's perspective.