Ethiopia Attempts to Insulate Against Drought

These images from Tigre Ethiopia from the 1980s made clear the impact drought could have on a population.

Today as the worst drought in decades ravishes the Horn of Africa, the region at the epicenter of 1980's famine, looks very different.

Lush valleys and tilled hillsides are busy with activity and fields are full of ripening cereals and vegetables.

The Safety Net Program - a joint initiative from the Ethiopian government and international donors - is giving communities a far better chance of survival.

Under the program, farmers attend classes where they learn basic land management.

For their efforts, they receive cash or food aid. The plan's long-term goal is to make communities self-sufficient - even in times of drought - thereby avoiding the need for donor relief.




[Meles Zenawi, Ethiopian President]:




"When people talk about drought in the Horn of Africa, they are right, there is a massive drought in the Horn of Africa. But when they talk about famine in the Horn of Africa, there is no famine in Ethiopia, there is no famine in Kenya. The famine is specifically in Somalia."

An estimated 250,00 people in neighboring Somalia are on the verge of perishing.




And while Ethiopia is no longer at the center of the suffering, progress is relative.

The yield from better irrigation channels and terracing could take years to realize and there are still four-and-a-half million people reliant on emergency food aid.

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