Tag Archives: 15 million people

A historical reflection on famine in Ethiopia

25 Nov

Posted by The Ethiopia Observatory (TEO)

by Dawit Wolde Giorgis, former Ethiopian Relief and Rehabilitation Commissioner (RRC)(An edited excerpt from my book “Red Tears” which I found relevant to the current drought in Ethiopia)

Drought is a natural phenomenon but it is often the reaction of society and governments that creates a famine. This article examines the reactions of past rulers to food shortages in Ethiopia. One of the gifts of history is that it can teach us what may happen through what has happened so that society and governments learn from them but rarely do. They would rather commit the mistakes and then regret their own decisions because it results in the unnecessary death and suffering of many, or the demise of the regimes.
The current crisis as stated by The Famine Early Warning System (FEWS) is summarized:
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How bad is the drought in Ethiopia? A must-read persuasive perspective

19 Nov

Posted by The Ethiopia Observatory (TEO)
By Ben Parker

Alarm bells are ringing for a food emergency in Ethiopia. The UN says 15 million people will need help over the coming months. The government, wary of stigma and therefore hesitant to ask for help, has nevertheless said more than eight million Ethiopians need food assistance. Extra imports to stem the crisis are already pegged at more than a million tonnes of grain, beyond the government’s means. Inevitably, comment and media coverage compare the current situation with 1984 – the year Ethiopia’s notorious famine hit the headlines. Reports suggest this is the worst drought in 30 years. One declares it a “code red” drought. So how bad actually is it?
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MELES ZENAWI: The aspirant ‘grey eminence’ of Ethiopian politics willed it in 2009; he chose to play his cruel power game from TPLF’s throne, stacking the cards in his & the Front’s favor undermining our nation’s cohesion & resilience;   ==========================  among others, in proclamation No. 653/2009, he decreed in a hungry nation first world pension & bequeathable retirement benefits for himself, his family & hirelings;   ==========================  he also granted all TPLF members first son’s rights, including decreeing pension rights to former TPLF guerrilla fighters, while withdrawing pension rights of all former Ethiopian soldiers;   ==========================  he made sure that in ethiopia the “we” so well have known from our history is replaced by division between the “us” & “them”, thus a solid dividing line between the corrupt nouveau riche & the rest as class of the nation’s pauperized;   ==========================  this bad inheritance is surely one of the many poison pills responsible for TPLF’s bad behavior, now resulting in its lamentation about bad governance problems;   ==========================  ethiopia that otherwise was full of opportunities has now become the lady with drying breasts;   ==========================  excesses of this greed are now burdening a present rife with tension, deepening poverty & inequality in this single-party state with single ethnic army controlling the moment & the nation’s resources, which has opened it up to a future riddled with national uncertainties;   ==========================  could thus ethiopians ever be able to pull together as multi-ethnic nation to attain their food self-security & honor their true achievements?   ========================== 

15 Nov

By Keffyalew Gebremedhin – The Ethiopia Observatory (TEO)

I.  The failed ethnic politics has worsened

Ethiopians always seem to be losing track of the killer droughts, even if with each onset it is more severe and widespread in terms of places and the lives of citizens destroyed with their increasingly shorter frequencies than neighboring countries, such as Kenya and Somalia.
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