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 The carcasses of starved livestock have once again begun to litter the parched land of Ethiopia, where shortages of rain have been more severe than those which led to the much-publicized famine of 1984 that killed a million people.
“The situation is severe,” says Margaret Schuler, World Vision’s team leader for East Africa. “Up to 11 million Ethiopians are at serious risk of food shortages in the next two months, and the problem is compounded because 10 percent of the adults are HIV positive.”
About 8 million suffered food shortages in the 1984-1985 famine. Aid workers worry that other world events, such as terrorism and possible war with Iraq, will overshadow Ethiopia’s food crisis. In addition, southern African countries also are facing serious food shortages.
But there are reasons for hope this time around. Unlike the famine of the 1980s, the government has been quick to acknowledge the crisis and welcome international aid. Food has been reaching the hard-hit areas without hindrance from war.
World Vision has been working in Ethiopia for decades, and has begun to see how long-term relief and development can prepare communities to help themselves through a drought. One example is in Antsokia, where 15 years of development has progressed to the point where the community soon will be able to carry on without World Vision’s help. Antsokia was devastated by the famine in the 1980s, a burial place for hundreds of thousands of victims. Now it’s a model learning site, and a place where its people have enough to eat, even during times of drought.
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