Ethiopia- Another Case Study

Thus far, I have largely focused on South Africa as a case study for the issues of water and food insecurity in Africa. For contrast, I would like to look at the same issues in a country which is far less developed on the whole: Ethiopia. Ethiopia is in the Horn of Africa and is landlocked by Eritrea, Djibouti, and Somalia.

Water in Ethiopia

As with the Western Cape, Ethiopia is also highly susceptible to drought due to the El Nino phenomenon. The summer of 2017 saw drought cripple the nation. The UN has a classification system to identify the most at-risk areas for drought. In July 2017, a total of 228 districts (over half of the country) were classes as Priority 1. In such areas, aid is absolutely crucial if people are to survive. This is a 19% rise in the number of districts in urgent need of aid since 2016. According to Water.org, there are currently 61 million people living in Ethiopia who do not have access to safe water for drinking and domestic use out of the total population of 99 million.

Famine in Ethiopia

Famine is defined as the extreme scarcity of food, or extreme hunger. According the World Health Organisation, more than 20 million people in the Horn of Africa are facing famine, as of 2017. Drought not only compromises agriculture, but it also means that livestock suffers. When water resources are so limited, human necessity is obviously favoured over that of cattle. Not only does this mean that large numbers of livestock die, reducing the quantity of meat available, but it also means that those who survive are malnourished themselves The production of milk is often greatly reduced, which means the production of dairy products is also compromised.

The Independent reported that upwards of 7.8 million people were receiving emergency food aid due to the failure of harvests across the country in the summer of 2017. Included in this figure are 375,000 young children under the age of 5 who were classed as ‘severely malnourished’. As we know from one of my previous posts, this is a causing factor of stunting and requires urgent action.

Ethiopia’s varied topography also affects the ability to keep livestock. Groundwater held in aquifers is recharged by heavy rains and flash floods during the wet season at lower elevations. Hence, farmers at these elevations can keep more cattle and benefit from more meat and dairy products. At higher elevations, there is greater surface runoff and hence less groundwater recharge. Farmers living in these regions hence have less fresh water resources available to them and so are unable to keep large amounts of livestock. (Tucker at al., 2014) If drought should occur, it is likely to affect those living at higher elevations much more.

What can be done?

Surveys show that almost ¾ of the population survive on less than US $3.10 per day. In a country where clean water has a price tag on it, this is clearly insufficient. However, there are schemes which offer finance so people can afford to pay for clean water. Not only does this mean Approximately 3 million Ethiopians are currently participating in borrowing schemes set up by micro-finance companies. WaterCredit is a market-driven finance scheme which aims to provide affordable loans to people across Africa. They also strive to help people So far, WaterCredit has given out more than US $602 million in loans to African people across 11 different nations. 

I read a really interesting paper by Dugo and Eisen (2016) which discussed the role of the media in famine in Ethiopia. They highlight the need for media attention to be payed to issues surrounding mass death- of which famine is a causing factor across many parts of Africa. Even here I the UK there are countless examples of how the media has the power to combat both water and food emergencies across the world. It is basically a given that you will encounter at least one TV advert appealing for donations to “STOP hunger” whilst flicking through the channels in the evening. Charities such as WaterAid and The Red Cross may not offer long-term solutions to the water and food crises in Africa, but I think they are absolutely necessary in times of urgency, such as during times of drought in Ethiopia.