Famine in Ethiopia: The act of man or Nature?

Mekbib Gebeyehu, PhD

Dura nagaan dhaama

What are really the causes? Why? What went/goes wrong? What are the main reasons for continued famine in Ethiopia? Is it an act of nature, an act of man or God? Who is to be blamed?

A combination of long period political and economic instability has produced chronic famine in Ethiopia. We could recall the 1972/1973 and 1984/1985 starvation episodes that devoured hundred thousands of lives. Even this time millions of people are starved to death.

It is taken for granted that millions who are starving or threatened with starvation in Ethiopia to day are the victims of a drought caused by an unpredictable and unpreventable reduction of rainfall or natural disaster. In other words, drought or decrease in the annual rain fall is offered as an explanation for famine in Ethiopia. In reality, however, the famine we are witnessing in Ethiopia is not due exclusively drought or natural catastrophe as the Tigray based Ethiopian minority regime and some “researchers” would like us to believe. It is a good example of an inevitable result of bad government polices.

Drought, climate variation and other natural calamities (disasters) occur not only in Ethiopia, but in any part of the world. However, drought does not necessarily result in famine. Famine can be avoided if the government takes its responsibility. Therefore, there are good reasons to consider political instability and lack of democratic governance as significant factors.

Famine should be understood more broadly as a symptom of some thing the solution of which strongly demands a deep understanding of political and environmental systems of the country. In other words famine vulnerability has to be sought in human and natural elements.

Let me try to elaborate this with a very simple formula.

F = HN
Where: F = Famine; H = Human intervention; N = Natural interference

Human Intervention

Lack of political and economic instability:

• The TPLF government expends enormous resource to fight against opposition forces
• There is restricted freedom of assembly
• There is restriction upon the press Thousands of able bodied men and
  women including journalist and experts are in prison detained without charge
• Misplaced political priorities
• Many educated and experts are in exile to save their lives
• Environmental degradation mainly as a result of bad managementPolitical crises are thus the centre of the famine problem. When there is politically induced insecurity, instability, repression, people will be affected by famine. When there is lack of freedom of association and lack of voice, there will follow restrictions on economic opportunities. Human right violations cause persecution, suffering and forced displacement of people.

Lack of democracy and peace are major obstacles which have the main effect on famine in Ethiopia. Under authoritarian rule, it is always difficult to fight famine and poverty. The TPLF minority government which is obviously on turmoil seems determined to conduct its campaign under the so called democracy which may as well target national groups to fight what it calls narrow nationalism and separatism.

It has been observed that famine do not occur in democratic countries with a relatively free press and active opposition parties because people have established mechanisms to compel governments to address their pressing needs. Moreover, famine in general and starvation in particular happen because of the failure of governments. Democratic governments are bound by social and political contract to respond to the need of their citizen. They know that failure of the contract on their part brings an end to their stay in power. Elections and the possibility of public criticism make the penalty of famine affect the rulers as well – not the starving people.

Therefore, the main roots of the famine crises in Ethiopia are related to political instability and economic uncertainties. Changes in these features are required on a real urgent base.

Misplaced political priorities can also easily lead to famine. For example, if high emphasis is given to the agricultural development sector and annual imputes into the rural sector are increased, Ethiopia can feed itself with out any problem. Serious studies indicate that only 20% of Ethiopia’s 65% suitable land is used for cultivation.

Natural interference

Drought, pest and disease are good examples of natural interference. Pest and disease are not reported to cause the famine in Ethiopia (at least the government did not claim). Drought by itself is the result of deforestation, soil erosion and biological soil deterioration. Drought triggers the famine crises, but does not cause it. It is to be recalled that calamitous forest fires raged across large areas of the country especially in Oromia region and destructed a vast area of forest. Such type of destruction of forests leads to lowering of soil moisture and suppress rail fall because much of the rain comes from water evaporated off forests/vegetations.

Drought is an environmental issue that has political and social dimensions. Of course, famine preconditions and drought /Environmental degradation are related. The reasoning becomes dangerous however, if we neglect other important agents of famine described above and focus only on drought. Though the Tigray minority regime has failed to address the cause of famine in Ethiopia, there are serious documents that prove that the famine is caused by human intervention rather than by natural catastrophe. Droughts may lower the agricultural production, however, it does not necessarily result in famine anywhere in the world

As the forest is destroyed, it holds less water and produces a drier local climate or drought. Therefore destroying forest reduces not only the amount of rain but also the moisture to evaporate or run off damaged soils. The problem is that the soil’s water-retaining capacity has been reduced by human interference with nature.

The most important thing is to understand that drought is not the direct cause of famine. Assume that drought in Ethiopia has resulted in low levels of production. Does this lead us to conclude that it results in famine? No! People do not starve in a drought related famine simply because there is low production or no food. Famine is influenced by working entire economy. It is very important to take an adequate view of the politico-economic processes that lead to famine in Ethiopia which continue to kill millions of people. What determines whether a person is starving is its food entitlement that is the amount of food he or she can obtain, own and use, not just the total availability of food in the country or region. I can give Ethiopia as an example. Throughout the famine 1984-1985, Ethiopia was a net exporter of food, Ethiopia still export food.

Given the deep-seated interdependences that influence economic and political deprivations and famine, a narrowly drought centred view would defeat the purpose finding practical ways of fighting famine in Ethiopia. Political-economic-peace-democracy and famine interdependences have to be adequately seized for the ultimate elimination of famine and starvation in Ethiopia.

Conclusion!

• Catastrophe political and human crises are taking place in Ethiopia. Millions people are on the edge of death, Children, young and old are dying every day.
• The famine we are witnessing to day is the inevitable result of bad government policies, lack of political and economic instability, lack of peace and democracy and misplaced political priorities. Therefore, it is important to take an adequately wide view of the political and economic processes that lead to famine which continue to kill millions of people and blight the lives of hundreds of millions
• Any attempt to overcome the famine situation in Ethiopia must involve broad understanding of political, economics, humanitarian, social, environmental crises as well as decentralization of the TPLF power, resolution of the demands for the national self-determination, democratization and peace full transfer of power in the country.

From the archive, 24 August 1974: Ethiopia’s fallen aristocrats

(The Guardian) — The radicals are pressing for a French Revolution-style solution – a mass execution of the aristocracy

Addis Ababa, December 1974: Ethiopia’s Derg leaders, who deposed emperor Haile Selassie in September 1974. Photograph: J. M. Blin/AFP/Getty Images

Addis Ababa, August 23
They are crowded into three long army barracks, sleeping on simple army cots, their heads shaven as if they are condemned men, their food brought to them three times daily by wives already dressed in black for mourning.

These were once the high and mighty of Ethiopia – princes, imperial courtiers, provincial nobility, aristocratic landlords, blue-blooded ministers, and much decorated generals. They ruled entire provinces, owned enormous estates, and commanded private armies and could boast of belonging to royal families tracing their ancestry 2,000 years to the founding of the Ethiopian monarchy.

Today they are the humbled captives of young and unknown military officers, members of a mysterious Armed Forces Committee that has set out to bring revolution to this ancient mountain kingdom of feudal lords and a once all-powerful Emperor.

Officially these prisoners of the revolution number only around 150, but it is said the total number of those arrested is about 350.

The fallen aristocrats are being kept in rundown buildings near the city centre that serve as the Fourth Army Division’s headquarters. Three times a day the road outside the compound is the scene of traffic jams as families come with food and messages (the army will not feed the prisoners).

Their crimes, according to the military, include corruption, abuse of power, maladministration and misappropriation of State funds and lands, a cover-up of the disastrous drought afflicting the country, and, above all, obstruction of badly-needed reforms.

Their fate is uncertain. Theoretically, the prisoners are awaiting the outcome of an investigation by a 15-man committee of inquiry into the alleged misdeeds of the old regime, a process expected to take two years.

But relatives of the prisoners feel they have become hostages of the military committee and that they will be the first to die if any attempt is made by Emperor Haile Selassie to overthrow the reform movement.

It is rumoured that the radicals among the reformers, still in a minority, are pressing for a French Revolution-style solution – a mass execution of the aristocracy. The military committee, however, is dominated for the moment by relatively moderate men who have committed themselves to a revolution “without any bloodshed.”

To Ethiopians all too aware of the violence and civil wars that have periodically marked the history of the kingdom, it is a miracle that the ruling aristocracy has fallen without putting up a fight and practically without a gun having been fired.

Some of the most powerful aristocrats like Ras (prince) Asrate Kassa and Ras Mesfin Sileshi were said to have private armies numbering thousands ready to die for them but these reports have turned out to be part of Western and even Ethiopian mythology about Ethiopia.

Asrate was arrested at his home on a hillside overlooking Addis Ababa without putting up a fight, and Mesfin gave himself up when the military threatened to expropriate all his lands and personal property.

Students protest in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, September 17, 1974, against the military committee that seized political power last week. Photograph: AP

“These people were absentee landlords and rulers out of touch with their own people,” one Western diplomat said. “Nobody was ready to fight for them.”

Indeed, few tears are being shed for Ethiopia’s fallen aristocrats and there is a widespread feeling among Ethiopians that justice has at long last prevailed. This feeling is being strengthened by the horrifying testimony of the old regime’s political prisoners who are now being freed, some of them after nearly 25 years in gaol.

One journalist, Negede Gebrab, who had been in prison 17 years for advocating a Socialist people’s republic, said he had spent 36 months in solitary confinement living on dried peas and 50 grams of water a day. He said he was repeatedly whipped, bound up much of the time in 30lb of chains, and periodically dragged naked across the rough gravel of the prison compound.

Another prisoner, a farmer named Bariso Odda, said an army general had taken his 48-acre farm, raped his wife, and thrown him into prison for being involved in an uprising against local landlords last spring. In prison, Bariso said, he was hanged upside down, had a red hot sickle shoved into his mouth, and was further tortured when he could not answer questions put to him by the police because he was so badly burned.

If the aristocracy is doomed as a ruling class in Ethiopia, many individual members of noble families are none the less still faring well under the new regime. The most striking example is the Prime Minister, Michael Imru, who is the son of a ras, although one famous for his radical views and acts (Prince Imru gave away all his land years ago).

Ethiopian Kangaroo court sentences 18 Ethiopian Muslim Leaders, Preachers and Journalists 7-22 years in prison

 Ethiopian Kangaroo court sentences 18 Ethiopian Muslim Leaders, Preachers and Journalists 7-22 years in prison 

Ethiopia has passed a verdict on Ethiopian Muslim Leaders, Preachers and Journalists that was petitioned by millions of Ethiopian Muslims. The committee was appointed by the people to present public anger to government officials. 

The Kangaroo court in Addis Ababa has today passed a verdict to punish these distinguished public figures from 7 to 22 years ranging imprisonment in charges of 'terrorism'

Mootummaan Wayyaannee Maastar Plaanii Finfinnee Hojii Irra Olchuu Jalqabe

August 1, 2015 Oromia

Adoolessa 31,2015 Finfinnee

(Qeerroo) — Duulli mana diiguu Burraayyutti jalqabde gara Bishooftuuttis gadi bu’uun guyyaa kaleessaa fi hardha manneen Oromootaa 1000 ol ta’u diigamaa oole. Mootummaan lafa Oromoo gurgurachuu barsiifata godhate uummata lafa isaarratti mana ijaarrate doozorii fi poolisii Federaalaa humna guddaa ta’e itti bobbaasuun guyyaa kalee jiraattota Ada’aatti bobbaasuun uummata karaarra bultoota taasisaa oolan. Aanaa Ada’aatti gandoota Qurquraa, boolee fi Dambiitti kaleessaa manneen jigfaman keessaa kanneen kanatti aanan kana.

 

ABO-Jijjiirama Jeneraal Kamaal Galchuun Hogganamuu Kallacha Walabummaa Oromiyaa (KWO) Jedhee of Moggaase

August 2, 2015 Oromia

Ummannni Oromoo gabrrummaa jalatti erga kufee kaasee gaaf tokkollee tole jedhee gabroomfattoota Habashaa jalatti bulee hinbeeku. Ummanni keenna erga gabroomffattoonni balbala isaa gahanii kaasee humnna qabu hundaan lola ufirraa ittisuu (War of resistance) dabalatee gootummaadhaan diinota isaa falmaa ture.

Qabsoo Ummata Oromoo haalli seenaa tokko tokko jidduu seenanii yoo bifa biraa qabsiisanillee (lola xaaliyaanii, sochii Mangistuu Nuway, warraaqsa bara 1974 fi dhufaatii wayyaanee kan bara 1991) qabsoon teenna waggoota dheeraa kanniin keessatti kufaa ka’aa yoona geettee jirti. Qabsoon Saba keennaa tun, akka ammayaatti kan eegalamte bara 1973 hundeefama Adda Bilisummaa Oromoo (ABO) tiin akka ta’e namiifuu ifa galaadha. Qabsoon bara dheeraaf hoggansa dhaaba siyaasaa dhabdee kufaa, ka’aa achi geette yeroo jalqabaatif ilmaan Oromoo gootummaadhaan ka’anii dhimma Saba ufiitiif akkasumas dhimma biyya ufiitif (Oromiyaaf) falmmudhaaf sagantaa siyaasaa qopheeffatanii waanjoo gabrrummaa kuffisuudhaf sochiin taasisan, sochii seenaa qabeesssa jennee amanna.

Uummanni Oromoo haqa isaa barbaadachuudhaaf dhaaba ufiitin hogganamee deemudhaaf fedhiin inni qabu hedduu kan nama dinqisiisu fi ar’allee kan mul’atuudha.

Haa ta’u malee, qabsoon bilisummaa tan ABO dhaan hogganamtu baroota 1973 hanga 1991 keessatti bu’aa adda addaa kan kallattii ta’ee fi kan kallattii hinta’in (tangible & intangible results) haa buusu malee sochiin kun bu’aa lubbuu qabu galmeesisuu osoo hindandayin wayyaneen mootummaa jiddu galeessaa tooyachuudhaan sirna gabroomfataa dulloome abaaraa sirna gabrroomfataa isa caalu bakka buusudhaan ummatarratti feete. ABO fi dhabbotiin Oromoo adda ddaa
jalqabarratti motummaa cehumsaa keessatti qooda yoo qabaatanillee waggaa tokko keessatti dhiibamanii akka mootumicha keessaa bahan taasifame.

Qabsoon Oromoo bara 1992 irraa kaasee hanga ammaatti bifa hoggansi dhaabolee biyya keessaa bahee biyyoota alaa (diaspora) kessatti hundooftee kan deemu ta’e. Har’a qabsoon tun waggoota afurtama booda gatantarttee gara kufaatii deemaa jirti. Yeroo diinni keennaa gama hundaan ukkamsaa isaa cimsee itti deemaa jiru kana keessatti qabson teenna bacancara akkanaa keessa seenun waan dhala Oromoo hunda gaddisiiseedha. Kanaaf, sochii fi qabsoo ABO jijjiiramaa keessatti adeemsifamaa turee fi sochiiwwan qaamoleen adda addaa yeroo dheeraf karaa adda adddaatin taasisaa turan walitti qindeesudhaan Jilli Qabsaayotaa ABO yeroo isaa eeggatee adeemsifame kana iratti rakkoolee qabsoo bilisummaa Ummata Oromoo qunnaman kana dhabamsiisudhaaf dirqama jiijiiramni hundee akka taasifamu waliif galamee jira.

Haaluma kanaan nuti qabsaayonni falmii bilisummaa Saba Oromooti fi Walabummaa Oromoyaatif dhaabanne baati Adolessaa 2015 guyyaa 20 iraa kaasee biyyota adunyaa adda addaa keesatti teessuma/kora adeemsifachuudhaan akkasumas kora isa guyyaa dhumaa Magaalaa Minneapolis, MN (USA) keessati Adoolessa 30 fi 31 bara 2015 adeemsifannen yaa’iwwan keenna hunddayyuu miliidhaan xumuranneerra. Guduunfaa koroota keennas ilaalchisee waan irra geenne ibsa ijjannoo kanati aanu baafanneerrra:

1. Haala fi sadarkaan qabsoon Walbummaa Oromiyaa irra geette xiinxallaa gadi fagoo fudhachuudhaan, qabsoo tana bacancaraa fi gatantara keessaa baasudhaaf dhaaba haarawa qabsoo tana hafuuraa fi yaada akkasumas sochii haarawaan finiinsu uumun waan barbaachisaa ta’ee argameef dhaaba Kllacha Walabummaa Oromiyaa (KWO) jedhamu hundeesineerra.

Dokumeenti Guutuu – PDF

goto link http://www.ayyaantuu.net/abo-jijjiirama-jeneraal-kamaal-galchuun-hogganamuu-kallacha-walabummaa-oromiyaa-kwo-jedhee-of-moggaase/