Shot of the Day: Parched

It’s mid-June. No rains in Ethiopia. This is not good. In a country so heavily reliant on subsistence farming, a late rainy season is catastrophic. An estimated 80% of the population relies on the agricultural sector for their livelihood. 65 million people.

How do we (they) solve this, reducing susceptibility? Gain buffer. Gain technical capacity to develop solutions. Increase livelihoods so fewer people are living hand-to-mouth. Support health strategies and initiatives so that fewer people are already unhealthy, already so close to the line. Increase accountability and management capacity among government to prevent the problems.

Notice I haven’t said to drop plane-loads of food.

I didn’t ask what the short-term actions were. Sure, humanitarian assistance is important. Critical, even. But if we don’t tackle the underlying issues, it’ll happen again the next time an event pushes people, already so close to the edge, over it again. Hunger is a problem. But also an indicator of underlying issues. It’s those we need to tackle to avoid the great Ethiopian famine of 2025.

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Tagged as: crops, ethiopia, famine, harvest, hunger, rains