10 million starve in Ethiopia, but not Eritrea

[RVtitem]

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10 millions of Ethiopians face starvation due to famine. Ethiopia government has got used to foreign aid.

unlike its neighbour eritrea (also known as north korea of africa for adoption of "communist policy", which have earned it western sunctions), Ethiopia continue to be an ally of the west.

Eritrea inder democratic dictator Afwerki continue to prosper have set a more humane system that shun western aid. Afwerki is quoted saying that western aid continue to cripple africa ability to innovate ways of self sufficiency in food. This seems to be very true, even in the context of kenya which has left the entire of nothern frontier to the mercies of western NGO.

These NGO do not solve underlying problems but continue to thrive under negro laziness and luck of initiatives. Governments also see these organizations as source of foreign currency, employment and other....but these few benefits do not outweigh the feeling of independence and self determination.

[MOON Ki]

The home of the AU headquarters.   Base of "African solutions for African problems!".   And always starving.

We have heard a great deal about how this place has supposedly done well from turning East---electricity, dams, roads, railways, etc.    Anything that Kung Fu would lend money for.    But they apparently forgot to food themselves.    So now it is, *yet again*, time to turn East: yellow maize from America.

When do people start to figure out that feeding themselves and ensuring their food security is the most basic thing and should come before all else?   There are really just three options to choose from:

(1) Work at it, and feed yourself.
(2) Rely on endless begging.
(3) Starve to death.

In Kenya we though that somebody had at least made a stab at ensuring food security: the Galana Project, one million acres, Vision 2030, etc. Jubilee leading the nation.  The only problem seems to be that somebody misunderstood the context of "eating", and it looks like people have been eating plenty even before any food has been produced:

A parliamentary committee now wants the Jubilee administration's million-acre Galana-Kulalu irrigation scheme suspended because of failed pilot projects. The MPs said the project had already gobbled up at least Sh7 billion without tangible results.
...
Nooru said the MPs had called for the suspensions when they realised that the feasibility study had been inflated by Sh200 million.

www.standardmedia.co.ke/article/2000184394/mps-want-bungled-galana-irrigation-project-suspended

RVtitem wrote:

Eritrea under democratic dictator Afwerki continue to prosper have set a more humane system that shun western aid.

Looks like they don't know about that "humane system" and aren't starving there because they are all running away.    Eritrea is currently one of the largest suppliers of those taking desperate steps to flee the West, and it has been for some years.  Figures from the UN indicate that about 9% of the population has run off in recent years.

Oct 2015:

Eritreans now make up the fourth largest group of asylum seekers in the European Union, and second largest group to arrive in Italy by boat after the Syrians.

https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/eritrea/2015-10-26/out-Eritrea

http://www.thenation.com/article/europe-is-trying-to-rid-itself-of-the-eritrean-refugee-crisis/

http://www.unhcr.org/546606286.html

24 June 2015A United Nations-appointed commission of inquiry today warned that the dire situation in Eritrea can no longer be ignored and called on the UN Human Rights Council to maintain close scrutiny on violations committed in the Horn of Africa nation that may constitute crimes against humanity.

http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=51239#.Vm3dqZVdHL8

[Globalcitizen12]

Africa rising kabisa

[RVtitem]

www.ibtimes.co.uk/ethiopia-10-million-risk-starvation-east-africa-faces-worst-drought-30-years-1532599

I think most of infrastructure development on ethiopia have not started to run. And it might take time to trickle, even after they are launched.

The GERD project, which should churn out 15000 gwh/year of power is still under construction. Gibe 3 dam was inaugurated last October. Egypt still has issues with some of these projects.

www.dailynewsegypt.com/2015/12/13/renaissance-dam-talks-end-without-agreement/

[MOON Ki]

Meanwhile, back in Kenya, home of Galana, this is the news today:

Nearly two million children below the age of five years are at risk of not achieving their full body growth as a result of chronic nutritional deficiency, a survey has shown.
...
Releasing the data at Bamba Primary School in Kilifi during the launch of a maternal and child nutrition programme yesterday, UNICEF Nutrition Specialist Sicily Matu said one out of four children under the age of five is stunted due to inadequate feeding.

http://www.standardmedia.co.ke/health/article/2000185281/survey-2-million-children-at-risk-of-stunting

[RVtitem]

www.ibtimes.co.uk/ethiopia-10-million-risk-starvation-east-africa-faces-worst-drought-30-years-1532599

I think most of infrastructure development on ethiopia have not started to run. And it might take time to trickle, even after they are launched.

The GERD project, which should churn out 15000 gwh/year of power is still under construction. Gibe 3 dam was inaugurated last October. Egypt still has issues with some of these projects.

www.dailynewsegypt.com/2015/12/13/renaissance-dam-talks-end-without-agreement/

Meanwhile, back in Kenya, home of Galana, this is the news today:

Nearly two million children below the age of five years are at risk of not achieving their full body growth as a result of chronic nutritional deficiency, a survey has shown.
...
Releasing the data at Bamba Primary School in Kilifi during the launch of a maternal and child nutrition programme yesterday, UNICEF Nutrition Specialist Sicily Matu said one out of four children under the age of five is stunted due to inadequate feeding.

http://www.standardmedia.co.ke/health/article/2000185281/survey-2-million-children-at-risk-of-stunting

we have a good explanation here. It seems inept government decided to carry out an experimental project on large scale....that they were trying to find out the best maize variety on a 10,000 acre land!! Even basic science talks of scaling experimental models to reduce cost and other issues. But it's hard to believe this kind of explanation. This Galana project looks like an eating scheme.

www.nation.co.ke/news/MPs-query-poor-harvest-at-Galana/-/1056/2936792/-/3eqhd9z/-/index.html

[RVtitem]

When Migrants Flee Progress, Not
War

http://foreignpolicy.com/2015/04/22/end-poverty-stifle-happiness-mdgs-mediterranean-eritrea/

[RV Pundit]

Every country including the US (New Orleans anyone) once in a while get hit by natural calamity. El Nino induced drought is wrecking havoc on Ethiopians.

Let us not laugh at folks dealing with natural calamity but help them.

[patel]

While I may agree with you on Ethiopia situation what should we make of uhuruto Galana experiment? An experiment that has sucked billions of shillings mainly on dumb feasibility studies.  They should recall ruto biology degree for screwing up Galana together with Koskei.

Every country including the US (New Orleans anyone) once in a while get hit by natural calamity. El Nino induced drought is wrecking havoc on Ethiopians.

Let us not laugh at folks dealing with natural calamity but help them.

[RV Pundit]

Galana was handed to an Isreali company with expertise on the same. The trial was on 10,000 acres with several varsities of maize. 10,000 acres is small figure considering the gov plans to irrigate 1M acres. I think we should not rush to kill Galana project. Let the expertise deal with this.

While I may agree with you on Ethiopia situation what should we make of uhuruto Galana experiment? An experiment that has sucked billions of shillings mainly on dumb feasibility studies.  They should recall ruto biology degree for screwing up Galana together with Koskei.

[MOON Ki]

Every country including the US (New Orleans anyone) once in a while get hit by natural calamity. El Nino induced drought is wrecking havoc on Ethiopians.

Let us not laugh at folks dealing with natural calamity but help them.

Once in a while?   Ethiopians have been starving since when?   You yourself once stated that it used to be a "poster child for famine".   Apparently it still is.

Yes, natural disasters can happen.   But when they have happened enough, it makes sense for people to prepare to deal with them.  Apparently that has not been happening in Ethiopia.   Looking at the data, I am hard-pressed to find a year in which Ethiopia has not required food aid. 

It is not a matter of "laughing".   What is being pointed out is that unless Ethiopia (and similar countries) actually focus on food security as a priority, they will continue to starve and beg for food.

Here is how one commentator puts it:

not in food.

Thus, the government in Ethiopia has recently appealed to its international partners for food aid to feed 8.2 million people.  According to U. N. reports, the number of people needing help may reach 15 million by 2016.

The regime in Ethiopia always appeals for food aid whenever the country is affected by a drought. Then its international aid partners will deliver the food. This has become routine. 

Since the early 1970s, Ethiopia has been affected by a drought frequently. As a result, the country has become dependent on food aid despite its rich potential.

http://www.ethiomedia.com/aa2nov15/4371.html

In fact, Ethiopian non-thinking goes much farther:

Consider the case of South Korea.   South Korea has very little of the flat land that is required for large-scale agriculture.   It imports most of its food.   But, relative to incomes, food is actually very cheap there, and its food security is taken care of.   How does it do that?  Partly by Korean companies leasing large pieces of land elsewhere---in places where owners apparently can't or won't make good use of it.  That includes Ethiopia.   And other countries are doing the same in Ethiopia and elsewhere.

Is happening now a real, one-off surprise?   Warnings have been plenty.   but nobody in Ethiopia seems to have been listening.   An example from 2011:

http://www.oaklandinstitute.org/ethiopia-land-lease-risks-displacement-report

Also from a few years ago:

The Ethiopian government has stated publicly that it wants to sell off three million hectares of farmland in the country to foreign investors, and around one million hectares have already been signed away. The country has approved 815 foreign-financed agricultural projects since 2007 and land is being leased for approximately $1 per year for 2.5 acres.
...
In 2005, Ethiopia faced a food crisis, with the total number of victims estimated at several million people. The stage appears to be set for a similar situation when the global community came together in 1985 to collectively assist Ethiopians stricken by one the worst famines in recent history. During that period about one million people died from starvation

http://www1.american.edu/ted/ice/ethiopia-land-swap.htm

Here is another story:

Thousands of Ethiopians are being relocated or have already fled as their land is sold off to foreign investors without their consent ...
...
 Of this, 600,000 ha has been handed on 99-year leases to 10 large Indian companies. Ethiopia has leased an area the size of France to foreign investors since 2008.

Saudi Arabia and others are also doing well off Ethiopian land; currently something like 36 countries (including Kung Fu)  are doing well off Ethiopian land.    And do these droughts ever affect their productive use of the land, or are they eating off Ethiopian land?

[MOON Ki]

Eritrea inder democratic dictator Afwerki continue to prosper have set a more humane system that shun western aid. Afwerki is quoted saying that western aid continue to cripple africa ability to innovate ways of self sufficiency in food.

I was intrigued with this idea of Africa's North Korea as some sort of self-sufficient paradise, which the other North Korea too claims it is.   So I took a closer look.  The place is, and has been getting aid (including food aid) from various places, but it's channeled in a way that is not entirely obvious.

Mr. Afwerki---if that's his real name, then it's quite appropriate---did indeed vow to make his country self-sufficient.   To that end, especially around 2011, he kicked out a lot of foreigners.   Next?   Not entirely what one might have expected. 

He then went on to negotiate a Strategic Partnership Cooperation Framework with the UN, under which the "donors" who were kicked out put up most of the money, but because it's coming via the UN, Eritrea is supposedly not getting any "aid" from "donor".   And, of course, they don't need food aid; but they have no objection to "nutritional assistance" and "famine-prevention assistance".   From the UN.

According to the UN:

donor community.

http://www.un-eritrea.org/news/donor_briefing.html

The "donor countries", of course, have to tell their taxpayers how their money is being spent; they can't just go around throwing money about, all lumped as "to the UN" or whatever.  So if one goes, "donor" by "donor",  through the relevant public information, a better picture of the real story emerges.   For example:

Project profile: Eritrea - Food and Nutrition Assistance - Development and Peace 2015:

Eritrea is facing a serious humanitarian situation due to the effects on food production of both chronic drought and the exodus of an increasing number of young men to avoid national military service. Although government restrictions make it difficult to assess the situation in Eritrea, current estimates indicate that between 1.4 and 2.7 million Eritreans (out of a population of 6.5 million) will face acute food insecurity in 2015. Global acute malnutrition rates have been reported at above 50%, or more than triple the accepted 'emergency threshold' of 15%, in some rural communities, a situation that is exacerbated by extremely low levels of access to safe water sources and proper sanitation facilities outside urban areas.

http://www.acdi-cida.gc.ca/cidaweb/cpo.nsf/fWebCSAZEn?ReadForm&idx=00&CC=ER#countryonly

And right now, it looks like Eritrea has decided to accept EU aid, in return for keeping more of its people away from Europe:

The European Union aims to agree on 200 million euros (145.65 million pounds) in development aid for Eritrea by year-end to help stem an exodus of people from the poor Horn of Africa nation to Europe, a senior EU official said on Thursday.
...
The new EU programme was drawn up after Asmara offered an opening for renewed cooperation.

http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-europe-migrants-eritrea-idUKKCN0RH1MU20150917

(From the latest news, it looks like a done deal.)

[MOON Ki]

On Ethiopia, here's an interesting article from not-too-long-ago, written (as far as I can tell) by an Ethiopian:

Years ago one Ethiopian Diaspora in Washington asked the late Prime minister Meles Zenawi what his vision for the country was. A rather polite and amiable Meles outlined his vision in a very human centered way. He said he hopes that in ten years every Ethiopian will have enough to eat three times a day and after 20 years Ethiopians will not only have enough food but they will also have the luxury of choosing what they eat.

Here we are now. Three years have passed since Meles died in office after 21 years in power. Once again Ethiopia's food crisis is topping the headline. As seasonal rain fails in Eastern and Southern parts of the country, famine is threatening millions of Ethiopians. The UN estimates over 10 million are in need of emergency food aid.

http://www.madote.com/2015/08/the-cause-of-ethiopias-recurrent-famine.html

Why is the Ethiopia government acting so irresponsibly? The answer is simple - because there is no incentive for the government to work hard to avert famine.

However, the argument that famine in Ethiopia is caused by drought doesn't hold water anymore. Unless the problem is addressed from its roots, another famine is just a matter of time.

[patel]

So far close to 7 billions pumped into Galana and we only have few sacks of maize to show..and you say keep pumping money?  What foreign expertise is this that kenyans need to grow maize? All along I thought kenya pride herself in marathon and agriculture.

Galana was handed to an Isreali company with expertise on the same. The trial was on 10,000 acres with several varsities of maize. 10,000 acres is small figure considering the gov plans to irrigate 1M acres. I think we should not rush to kill Galana project. Let the expertise deal with this.

While I may agree with you on Ethiopia situation what should we make of uhuruto Galana experiment? An experiment that has sucked billions of shillings mainly on dumb feasibility studies.  They should recall ruto biology degree for screwing up Galana together with Koskei.

[RV Pundit]

So Moonki has sat down and decided FOOD SECURITY is all Ethiopia gok should do? What about education? What about health? What about other gazillions function that Ethiopia gov should do. Ethiopia have done well, growing at double digit, and is facing a drought, a far cry from the famines it use to face.

Ethiopia leadership for last 20yrs have transformed their country more than any country I know of.

[RV Pundit]

I'll let the expat from Isreal tell us about it. We have to do something as big as Galana (1M acres) if we want to deal with food insecurity.

So far close to 7 billions pumped into Galana and we only have few sacks of maize to show..and you say keep pumping money?  What foreign expertise is this that kenyans need to grow maize? All along I thought kenya pride herself in marathon and agriculture.

[RVtitem]

Gok should have planted alternative food crops in galana e.g soya, rice etc and left maize to north rift farmers. Imagine how much those billions would have done if pumped into north rift farmer.

Moreover Gok should consider giving out contracts to capable farmers to grow and supply maize on large scale....this will go a long way in discouraging farm subdivision.

[MOON Ki]

So Moonki has sat down and decided FOOD SECURITY is all Ethiopia gok should do? What about education? What about health?

Feeding oneself is the most basic thing a person should do.  If he or she has any sense.   The thing things you mention: Health? Only you would need to be told about the very obvious  link between nutrition and health.   Education?    Lack of proper food in childhood leads to a stunting of growth in the development of both brain and body.   (Your homework: try to think of what that implies.)

Ethiopia have done well, growing at double digit,  ....

This is the kind of thinking that keeps Africans in problems.    Economic growth needs to translate into something meaningful for the population!   If people cannot even feed themselves, then what is the point of economic growth.   

Ethiopia leadership for last 20yrs have transformed their country more than any country I know of.

And yet, there they are.   Still begging for the most basic of basics.  And it's been like that for decades.  A man who spends his money  on a nice suit and then goes next door to beg for food should be told he is an idiot and advised to use his head and change his ways; he should  not praised for having increased his income.

and is facing a drought, a far cry from the famines it use to face.

If they aren't starving to the extent that they used to, they should really thank the "donors".  For example, the USA has been giving them food aid at an average of $250 million per year, for several years now.   

[MOON Ki]

Here is a very interesting view from the Ethiopian News and Opinions:
http://ecadforum.com/2015/09/27/famine-rides-a-light-train-in-ethiopia/

Ethiopia's "tremendous development" is acknowledged in the title---Famine Rides a Light Train in Ethiopia---although the author suggests that:

I will say it out loud: I WOULD RATHER SAVE 6 MILLION ETHIOPIANS FOR ONE-HALF BILLION DOLLARS THAN BUILD A 28 KM RAIL LINE. Straight up!!!

On the endless begging for food:

On the root of the problem:

[RV Pundit]

Shocking ignorance. In the US or any developed country, you'll find people who cannot feed themselves, and so just like ethiopia, there are all sort of citizens who need all sort of gov services. Gov job is to prioritize all the disparate needs and eventually come up with budget that cover stuff from space sciences to the basics. And there is no better measure of development than GDP, and on that count alone, Ethiopia has been a star performer the last two decades.