World’s largest famine [Archives:2003/657/Opinion]
Martin Dansky BSc.
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The world stays focused on the events in a post Saddam Iraq, peace is being bartered for the 9th time between the Israelis and Palestinians and still few dare to regard what is now unfolding in sub-Saharan Africa. This is probably due to the unpopularity of famines in Ethiopia and neighboring regions in the horn of Africa. Many are just conditioned to think of famine as a natural occurrence that somehow it will take care of itself or that the number of affected areas will never reach an amount to warrant real concern. Africa is still labeled as a continent where rampant famines are common. But this upcoming famine is a collection of prior disregarded insults to the region that have been ignored or set aside. The famine is coupled with the affect of the Aids virus and other diseases that make it difficult for rural families to look after themselves and ward off famine.
Ethiopia lost many people to famine in the 1980's. Today Ethiopia is not the only region affected, regions once considered to be more fertile like Zimbabwe are. Other regions affected earlier in the year are Zambia, Mozambique. Malawi, Lesotho and Swaziland. A lack of rain the region has caused crops to wither and a long dry season has now embraced the region. Not all of these countries have a history of chronic famine.
Kenya a land known for its grassland safaris, is also hit in its northern semi-arid region of Pokot. Today that region also has a poor water supply for its human population and livestock. The malnutrition levels of women and children in the region have also risen. The most recent case of famine was three years ago where funds for the region were received from the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Continued grants from wealthier European nations cannot be taken for granted. It seems that a long-term solution would be required which would keep the land in question irrigated so that crop failure would be reduced.
In many places such as Niger where there has also been famine in the recent past, malnutrition and disease have gone hand in hand. Young children are also especially susceptible to meningitis, tuberculosis and measles.
Relief for famine victims is not the only requirement to alleviate the hardships. Import permits, which would allow relief to enter the famine-hit countries, are delayed. Countries are not receiving enough funds to by the seeds for the next planting season, according to some reports.
Organizations such as Islamic Relief calls for donations for the stricken areas but also advertises that unless the inhabitants of the afflicted countries help themselves by building reservoirs and wells and planting seeds in a timely manner, the famine will continue from year to year. Irrigation pumps are required to counter the effects of drought, to allow farmers to moisten their soil in the absence of rain and allow them to have a second planting season during normal years. If these steps are not taken and families are not educated to manage their resources, famine will always be cyclical and chronic. Parents in the afflicted area should follow prescribed health and social standards to prevent the spread of disease. Such applies to any sub-Saharan mother who breast feeds a second child while the older one, from 10 months to 2 years old, has to depend on another food source. That child is destined to be malnourished and will likely never reach adulthood.
Whereas figures are reported as 11.5 million destined to die from starvation, one report I saw on the impending crisis puts the figure to over 50.A more accurate breakdown of the figures predicts that 17.9 million will die in the horn of Africa and another 16.41 million will be at risk in the southern region of Africa from Zimbabwe to Mozambique and Angola. Food relief is holding starvation at bay but the solution to chronic famine is far from reach. A country like Ethiopia is a model for combating mass starvation, where its army has been mobilized to distribute arriving grain packages. But there is a mix of poverty and famine that makes recovery in the region very difficult. We will soon see if our efforts to prevent mass starvation in these regions was too little and too late.
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