East African Food Distribution Project

FOOD DISTRIBUTIONIMPACT AREA: EAST AFRICA

Jeofrey Reyes and Jonathan DawitANTH-143, Culture & Adaptation

11-29-14

PROBLEM: About 7 million Ethiopians receive food aid each year, but the giving of aid is highly inefficient

IMPACTED POPULATION: ETHIOPIA AND OTHER ETHNIC GROUPS WITHIN THE

COUNTRY

Ethnic groups in EthiopiaEthnic group Population

Oromo     25.4 (34.4%)

Amhara     19.9 (27.0%)

Somali    4.59 (6.22%)

Tigray (Ruling Party)    4.49 (6.08%)

Sidama    2.95 (4.00%)

Gurage    1.86 (2.52%)

Welayta    1.68 (2.27%)

Afar    1.28 (1.73%)

Hadiya    1.27 (1.72%)

Gamo    1.10 (1.49%)

others     9.30 (12.6%)

Population in millions according to recent census

DEMOGRAPHICS

• Started receiving food aide from western countries after World War II

• Mengistu Haile Mariam one of the worst dictators in Ethiopian history late 1900s

• Forced out previous leader

• Withheld food aide to starve populations for control

HISTORICAL RELEVANCE

LACK OF INFRASTRUCTURE LAND LOCKED ARMED CONFLICTS POLITICAL CORRUPTION FAMINE SOME AREAS RECEIVING

MORE SUPPORT THAN OTHERS

BRITISH ADMINISTRATIVE LINES HAS LITTLE MEANING TO ETHIOPIAN ETHNIC GROUPS

CORRESPONDING PROBLEMS

Exceedingly poor & underdeveloped Lowest road density 681 Km of railroads, century old, between

Addis Ababa-Djibouti 33,297 Km of roads, approx. 13% roads

paved Main highway route between Addis Ababa to

the part of Djibouti Few interconnecting links between regions Large parts of country are isolated & depend

upon pack animals for transport

INFRASTRUCTURE

First Italo-Ethiopian War 1895-1896 victory Second Italo-Ethiopian 1935-1936 defeat.

Annexed by Italy World War II East Africa Campaign 1940-1943

victory gains Eithiopia independence Ethio-Somali War 1977-1978 victory. Withdrawal

of Somalia from Ogaden Eritrean War of Independence 1961-1991 Defeat

leads to independence to Eritrea but now land locked

Ethiopia Civil War 1974-1991 Regime change fall of Communist Government

1995 to today still battleing insurgency in Ogaden by Ethnic Somalis

Eritrean-Ethiopian Border war 1998-2000 = cease fire

Ethiopia Armed Conflicts

Battling constant droughts Poverty (people can’t deal

with shocks) i.e selling equipment

Govt. pushing farmers to produce cash crops for export

Agricultural system (land redistributed every few years)

Large yields have led to land degradation

Ethiopia does not distribute aid to rebel area

FAMINE

1995 constitution set up to keep ruling party In power (EPRDF)

Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front

Bribery Hold 499/547 seats in

the house of Rep. Consists of 4 parties

(OPDO, ANDM, SEPDF, & TPLF)

CORRUPTION

CERTAIN AREAS ARE RECEIVING MORE SUPPORT THAN OTHERS

ETHIOPIA FOOD SECURITY

Leasing land to outside powers / foreign countries

Ruling parties, small numbers but dominating a majority of populations

Poor cultivation management

Drought Multiple religion

struggles

ADDITIONAL LINKAGES TO POOR FOOD DISTRIBUTION

TEACHING SKILLS TO DEVELOP THEIR OWN FOOD RATHER THAN DEPEND ON FOOD AIDE

DIVIDE ETHIOPIA INTO SEVERAL INDIVIDUAL COUNTIRES REGULATE FERTILITY / LIMITED ALLOW FREE MIGRATION FOR BETTER AGRICULTURAL

CULTIVATION COME UP WITH STRATEGIES FOR UPCOMING SHORTAGES STOP FORCING FARMERS TO MOVE TO LANDS NO ONE

WANTS IMPLEMENT SOCIAL WELFARE PROGRAMS HUNGER / INSURANCE SAFETY NETS

POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS

Dependency Syndrome

Political and religious issues

Armed conflicts continue

Aid is being sent but given unfairly

Possible solutions Unclear future

CONCLUSION: CONTRASTS AND CONTRADICTIONS

• Bates, Daniel G. 1998. "Chapter 7." Human Adaptive Strategies: Ecology, Culture, and Politics.

• http://www.afrol.com/articles/37589• http://

cip.cornell.edu/DPubS?service=UI&version=1.0&verb=Display&handle=dns.gfs/1200428184

• https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/et.html

• http://faculty.apec.umn.edu/kolson/documents/4103_cases/case_7-4.pdf

SOURCES/BIBLIOGRAPHY

• http://www.usaid.gov/ethiopia/food-assistance

• http://www.newsecuritybeat.org/2012/05/taming-hunger-in-ethiopia-the-role-of-population-dynamics/

• http://water.org/country/ethiopia/• http://www.actionaid.org.uk/sites/default/files

/doc_lib/196_1_ethiopia_food.pdf• http://sites.tufts.edu/jha/archives/1754

SOURCES cont.

• http://www.humanium.org/en/fundamental-rights/food/crisis-explained/

• http://www.sustainabletable.org/280/food-security-food-access

• http://www.csa.gov.et/images/general/news/pop_pro_wer_2014-2017

• http://maoxiandao.asia/mengistu/mengistu-haile-mariams-biography-durame.html

SOURCES cont.