Food Shortages- Ethiopia Flashcards
Location
Ethiopia is in the east of Africa to the south of the country
Landlocked
Recent drought in Ethiopia has led to famine in gode, in the south of Ethiopia
When did it occur
Famine occurred again in 2000 due to drought
Physical Causes
The lack of rain was due to cooler sea temperatures in the Atlantic & pacific so less evaporation occurred and hence less rain fell
In 2000 and 1984-1985 had poor rainfall for 3 years —> crops to fail and so —> forces herd an to slaughter their cattle
—> slaughtering of cattle was unusual since cattle was generally used for milking not for meat
Infertile soil
Drought
Disease
Pest tropical storm
Human cause
The population of Ethiopia had grown exponentially 2000 meaning there was too little food to feed the population
Civil war with Ethiopia and Eritrea made it difficult to get food into Ethiopia (including aid) since Ethiopia was land locked only Eritrea have access to the port
—> some aid have been sent over to Ethiopia had been used to feed Ethiopia soldiers and vehicles used to transport the aid were used for military
Effects
The price of the food during the 2000 famine rose due to the mass migration of the farmers and live stock in search of water and fresh ground
Due to the killing of cattle that intended to be used for milk, milk became scarce leading to malnutrition especially for pregnant women and for children
2000 famine affected 43% of the population
—> 95% of the livestock had been killed either due to the drought or by their herd an desperate for food
1 million people were killed in both families
A third of these children were severely malnourished
The condition of the refugee camps and the presence of malnourishment in them led to the spread of disease such as tuberculosis
Response
Live aid was successful at raising awareness and money for famine and was responsible for getting government involved in providing aid to Ethiopia
Donation of clothing and dry food from the west
An early warning system was set up to predict poor rainfall so that food and aid can be acquired in preparation
Oxfam and Doctors Without Borders attempted to provide aid for those in need eventually, internationally governments became involved in providing aid
Since 1984 drought, the government holds 35,000 tones of food in reserve in case of drought
—> the resources are supposed to be replenished as soon as they are used but during the 2000 drought the reserve fell to 50,000 tones without being replaced
Problems with response
Aid wasn’t well distributed
—> poor infrastructure of Ethiopia and its landlocked nature made getting aid into the country hard
When Ethiopia appealed for aid the world didn’t respond with aid due to other problems in the world and reports that donated money was going into the army rather towards food
Medical workers were killed due to on going civil war
Issues relating to famine
Over dependence on aid by countries can result in a worsened situation and damage to the agriculture economy
Disaster fatigue when people become tired of donating money or want to do more to help than donating money but can’t
Coordination between aid agencies and government can fall apart during crises resulting in wasted aid and more death
