Focus on cycle of poverty

In northern Ethiopia they have a name for the poorest of the poor. They call them wuha anfari – those who cook water. In those few words, the scale and depth of poverty in the country are spelt out in a very matter of fact way. And, according to a new study funded by the British government, despite the best efforts of the international community the situation is actually getting worse. The poor in Ethiopia are getting poorer despite billions of dollars in aid. Northeastern Ethiopia – scene of the terrible 1984 famine that claimed a million lives – is one of the harshest environments in the country. UNSUSTAINABLE LIVELIHOODS The research, entitled 'Destitution in the Northeastern Highlands', paints a grim picture of both the scale of poverty and the lingering effects of the 1984 famine. It warns that for many people, their livelihoods are simply no longer sustainable. They are destitute. The challenge to the relief effort is what can be done. Rocky, dry inhospitable terrain means that farming is difficult at the best of times and food is desperately scarce. Each year tonnes of food aid are shipped in to ensure the survival of the population. Food aid in the region has become the safety net of the poor. The joint research, produced by the UK’s Institute of Development Studies at the University of Sussex and Save the Children UK, argues for a radical shift in policy. Among key ideas is the need for “multi-annual” food planning rather than single one-off assessments. It means funds can be better targeted to meet both immediate and long term needs and break the stop-start system of reacting to each emergency in turn. Authors Stephen Devereux, Kay Sharp and Yared Amare say that while rich nations generally acknowledge that a longer-term approach to tackling food shortages is needed, no real breakthrough has been made. The study also calls into question the effectiveness of aid in the area over the last two decades. It says that many families of the four million people studied in the area have still not recovered from the devastating 1984 famine. In fact with each passing year families are actually becoming worse off and sliding into the downward cycle of poverty. “The need to move away from repeated emergency food aid distributions and to find ways of tackling the longer-term causes of food insecurity in Ethiopia has been long and widely acknowledged," the report says. “However, it is less obvious what exactly should be done and how.” Attempts at preventing the root causes of hardship are “repeatedly overshadowed” by food emergencies. Often entrenched food aid distributions just compensate for widespread poverty and local market failures, which in reality long-term development should address, the authors say. According to their study, over the next 10 years the numbers of families that will become totally dependent on aid will increase sharply. Unless urgent action is taking to prevent the slide into absolute poverty, then some 2.5 million people are at “serious risk” of destitution – total poverty in that area alone, the report warns. EXTREME HUNGER But the crisis faced in the highlands is one that is repeated in many parts of the country where subsistence farmers are becoming increasingly dependent on aid. Small plots mean investment is pointless. And no land ownership means that farmers would be reluctant to spend hard earned cash on land they may not keep. “We are gradually starving to death,” said farmer Abullah Kalif who is eking out a pitiful existence in east Haraghe – one area hard hit by the current drought. “It won’t happen in a matter of days or months but over the years it will happen.” “What I grow just about feeds me, my wife and three children. I have a little left that sometimes I can sell. Each year we get a little less," he says. “When it is a bad year I lose everything. I have nothing left. Each time something goes wrong I have to sell something. I have even sold my tin roof. If we don’t keep getting aid we will starve.” But Ahmed is more fortunate than most. He has a one-hectare plot of land – just about enough to feed his family in good years. Many farm just 0.5 hectares of land – which are becoming known as “starvation plots”, too small to feed a family. NEED FOR STRICT CHECKS ON AID Food aid and its effectiveness have also come under the close scrutiny of the UN's Emergencies Unit for Ethiopia (EUE). It says strict checks must be in place to ensure that aid is delivered on time and to the right people. It also warns that some unscrupulous traders take advantage of western aid for poor families to reap their own benefits. But the EUE, in a study on North and South Gonder in Amhara Region, also warned that massive surges in the population are compounding food insecurity problems. It argues, like the authors of the UK study, that without a shift in policy, the good intentions of food aid can in fact lead to increased dependency. At a time of another looming disaster where some 14 million could face starvation in Ethiopia, organisations say there is no alternative but to ensure the needy are fed. Even so the UN’s World Food Programme targets longer-term food relief rather than just handouts. Its school feeding programme, operating for over 20 years in the country, is widely acknowledged as a successful method of attracting children into classrooms. It also helps run food for work projects to ensure communities can become sustainable. Yet the development task ahead is enormous. Since the early 1980's, billions of dollars in aid have been poured into the country. But massive population growth rates have eaten away at any potential growth. Consequently, according to World Bank figures, the average annual income has actually dropped in 20 years from US $190 to an all time low of US $108. TOLL OF WAR AND DEBT War and debt have also taken a heavy toll on international efforts to reverse the decline. During the 80's, Ethiopia was in the middle of a bloody and expensive civil war that ended with the overthrow of the former Marxist regime in 1991. A two-year war in 1998 with its neighbour Eritrea – estimated to have cost Ethiopia US $1 million a day – also took a heavy toll on the economy. Ethiopia’s financial debt to the rest of the world is astounding. Around US $6 billion are owed – the equivalent of its entire gross domestic product. Some 10 percent of GDP each year is spent just servicing the debt. DIFFERENT APPROACHES Despite the obstacles, the authors of the UK study believe changes can be made and the growing destitution in the highlands can be reversed. They argue for a different approach. While the report, which is still to be completed, does not urge any particular policies to redress the balance it does set out key areas. In particular it urges small towns to be used as “growth points” rather than the destitute pouring into the capital Addis Ababa – a policy the government is pursuing. The report also calls for more traditional approaches such as credit savings and building safety nets for “asset creation” and employment generation schemes. The study urges that closer attention be paid to roads and the effects on local communities when they are built. It calls for small-scale local industries to be established and linked to agricultural investment. But as farmer Abullah Kalif adds: “It is good to have the chance to get credit and more employment, but now we need food otherwise we will not survive.”