 |
|
Churches Play a Crucial Role in African Food CrisisDate: August 2000 
Djure Boko with the family's only food, which she received in a food distribution
"The day before yesterday, I went and begged a little food from my neighbors. Yesterday, I walked to a village where they were having a food distribution. From some people there, I got this," says Djure Boko .
Djure Boko grabs a small red wash basin from near the fireplace. Wheat grains cover the bottom as she shakes the basin in front of the visitors. There is no trace of any other edible stuff in or around the home she shares with her children and husband, Bali Dadi.
The family's home is typical for the people of Borana in southern Ethiopia, a low, dome like hut thatched with branches. There's barely any straw filling; one can see right through the hut from the outside. Seats are made out of dried clay with no blankets for comfort. It's the hut of a pastoral people - traditionally on the move for good pasture for their cattle.
For a while now, the family has been settled in the hamlet of Deru Danfile, some 45 km off the main road that connects this part of southern Ethiopia with Addis Ababa and the highlands, 500 km to the north. Like other families in Borana, Bali Dadi and his wife have tried their luck combining cattle hold with growing maize. But the persistent drought that has upset the livelihood of people across a great swathe of Ethiopia, Eritrea, Somalia, and Kenya has hit this family too.
"We've tried to grow maize for four years but with no success. The drought has ruined it every time." Bali Dadi explains.
Before the drought, he owned some thirty cows, which gave enough milk for the children. But all the cows have died during the drought, Bali Dadi says. "Some died just like that - in the bush - others died when I tried to drive them to the market to sell them."
Some 1,400 families live in the area around Deru Danfile and according to Ato Gira of the local Peasant's Association, people have lost most, if not all, their cattle.
A huge relief operation is speeding up in Ethiopia. Ship after ship dock in the port at Djibouti and thousands of grain sacks are being loaded on trucks headed for various parts of Ethiopia. Some 10.5 million people-- one in every six Ethiopians-- are said to be in need of food aid. This figure is put forward by the Ethiopian government and as most figures in emergencies, it is an estimate.
Some 60,000 people in Deru Danfile and in other parts of Borana are receiving aid through the Joint Relief Partnership (JRP) of the Ethiopian churches and their partners in ACT International and Caritas Internationalis (CI).
Successfully and fairly carried out, general food distributions will improve the situation for millions of families across Ethiopia. It gives people that crucial bit of extra strength, which may enable them to remain on their own land with just enough food and hope to try to cultivate once again, in the belief that eventually a normal rain will come.
Djure Boko's youngest child, a boy of one year, may not have the potbelly of a severely malnourished child. At the same time, it does not take an expert to see that the he and many of the children in Deru Danfile are weakened to a point where their health should be monitored in order to decide if they need supplementary feeding.
ACT member agencies have carried out nutritional studies in some of the worst affected parts of Ethiopia: Bale, Borana, South Omo and in the Somali region. The results were upsetting. They found high levels of severe malnutrition.
The sad fact is that people have continued to die from hunger in the most critically affected parts of southern Ethiopia - even at times when huge amounts of food aid are being distributed throughout the country.
The situation in parts of southern Ethiopia highlights a frequent weakness of large-scale food aid programs. Food may be reaching almost all parts of the country but the most needy populations (often living in remote and politically marginalized areas) were not given the special attention needed to prevent them from sliding into a famine situation in the first place.
In situations with widespread food crisis, churches and independent relief agencies can play a crucial role. Although they handle smaller amounts of money and food, they can ensure that the most needy are being served.
The United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) is responding to the food crisis in Ethiopia through its ecumenical partner Action by Churches Together. One hundred percent of donations to "Ethiopia Famine Relief, Advance #101250" will be used in for this response. The generous giving of United Methodists to the One Great Hour of Sharing supplements the cost of Advance gifts. Give through a local United Methodist church or send financial contributions to: UMCOR, 475 Riverside Dr., Room 330, New York, NY 10115. Call (1-800-554-8583 to make a credit card donation. Click here to make a secure online gift.
Nils Carstensen, Action by Churches Together, filed this report after a visit to Ethiopia in July 2000.
Source: Action by Churches Together, http://www.act-intl.org.
Joint Relief Partnership (JRP) is made up of The Ethiopian Orthodox Church, The Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus, The Ethiopian Catholic Church, The Lutheran World Federation and Catholic Relief Service. ACT members Norwegian Church Aid, Dutch Interchurch Aid (ACT Netherlands) and Christian Aid work in partnership with JRP in Ethiopia.