Andrej

Not all human-beings are as fortunate as others. People all over Africa are suffering from famine and dying from it. One country in particular stands above all the rest looking back in history. Ethiopia, formerly known as Abyssinia in 3000 BC, when it became the first African nation, has hit its bottom and cannot get any worse. Famine, hunger, fear, and hopelessness are all emotions running through the average Ethiopian. The latest string of famine to strike was not to long ago.
From 1983 to 1986, nearly 1.5 million Ethiopians died of starvation. That was the culmination of nearly two decades of famine that claimed more than seven million lives. Ethiopia was not the only African country to suffer from famine during these two decades. From around 1970 to
1987, all of northeastern Africa had gone through periods of drought. In the neighboring countries of Ethiopia, many other millions of lives were claimed, including the countries of
Sudan, Chad, Yemen, and Somalia. Fortunately during this period of time, in these countries, farmers were able to produce enough crops to relieve some of the hunger and starvation. Everything in their power was done to help save the lives of others, and they even stored grain in case of future droughts.
In Ethiopia, many other factors prevented the people from preparing for the unavoidable droughts. Many factors worked together with the drought conditions to make the situation even worse. As a result, Ethiopia did not just experience periods of famine between 1970 and 1987 like its neighbors, but instead it suffered from two decades of continuous famine. Land abuse, overpopulation, political conflicts, and dry weather didn’t help things out either.
Africa was always a target for hot weather and dry lands. Many strings of famines and droughts struck throughout time. Ethiopia does not contain much city-like features, but just the opposite.
Thousands of Ethiopians were farmers who worked voluntarily to survive.
During the 70s political conflicts began and, during the time, the
Government owned the land. The people soon found out that they were not farming for themselves but rather for many other people of their country as well. They had to build barracks in which as many as fifty families, or about two hundred people, were crowded into a single area which is seventy-five feet long as shelter.
Resettlement areas were also built by the people of Ethiopia. Lots of trees and dry grass had to be cleared out before any farming of any type could occur. They also had to build single-family homes and other buildings as well. Those workers who chose not to work, or who were too ill to work, were left in the barracks permanently, to die. Most volunteers for resettlement were also unaware that they had become part of the government’s new collective farming experiment. Under this program, no peasant owned his own land. The farms belonged to the government, and the farmers were expected to work together to make the farms productive. Then they would share the harvest or any money that came from selling part of their harvest.
Resettlement was not working the way the government had planned. In 1982, out of desperation, millions of poverty-stricken citizens packed their belongings and left their homes in search of food. Food shortages were already present, and millions of people were living on the edge of starvation. Another drought would push the nation over the edge, making it one of the worst famines in world history. Not too soon after, everything began to go down hill and everything
Ethiopians had worked for and done would soon be forgotten.
By 1984, famine had reached disaster proportions. In response, for their own good, they sought foreign help. In November of that year, government officials took foreign reporters into the countryside. What the reporters saw and photographed there shocked the world. The extend of hunger, poverty, and disease was worse than anyone had ever imagined.
Reporters estimated that more than half a million people had died of starvation in 1984, including men, women, and children. Broadcasts showed Ethiopians traveling from village to village in search of food. Bony bodies and bloated stomachs streaked across each individual.
Written on their ghost-like faces was a resignation to constant pain and hunger.
U.S. President Ronald Reagan and the leaders of other Western governments had been reluctant to help Ethiopia because of its communist government and its ties to the Soviet Union. West
Germany sent more than six million dollars worth of food to the Ethiopian government.
Construction teams were brought into Ethiopia to build hospitals, and Canada and Australia each contributed tens of thousands of tons of grain. The United States contributed well over 100 million dollars in aid, supplying nearly one-third of Ethiopia’s food for 1985. Everyone in power helped out in any way possible.
By January of 1985, despite all of the help of foreign aids, the famine had reached its peak
. Nationwide, the number of people living on the verge of starvation was estimated at eight million, about one out of every five Ethiopians. Nearly three million people had left their homes to wander in search of food. Thousands of famine victims streamed into temporary relief camps faster than the camps could supply food.
By June of 1985, the crisis was far from over, but more aid was arriving from the United States and other countries. Around, the country, the relief effort was slowly turning the tide against starvation and disease. As more Western supervisors came to Ethiopia to oversee the relief efforts, the government became more cooperative. Helicopters and other distribution channels were established to carry food into the hills where starving masses waited for it to arrive.
At last, in the month of June of that year, the rain began to fall. It was the beginning of the first season of normal rainfall in about five years. The fields began to turn green with the first sights of grain, corn, and vegetables. Although starvation was still far greater than acceptable levels, there was at least some hope, for the first time in years, the famine and drought seemed to be
declining.