New task force to slash food dependency

Experts from a top-level government-backed task force are aiming to slash Ethiopia’s dependency on food aid within three years, humanitarian sources told IRIN on Tuesday. The group – made up of key international and Ethiopian officials – is drawing up major policy initiatives to break the impoverished country’s cycle of dependency. “Ethiopia is tired of passing around the begging bowl and the international community is tired of filling it,” said one senior humanitarian source involved in the task force. “There is now a lot of pressure from all sides to finally come up with real, workable solutions to this increasing problem of food insecurity.” The team, made up of government experts, the United Nations, World Bank and charities, has until the end of the year to establish viable solutions to the recurrent food crises. The group, which has the blessing of Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, will look beyond current policies aimed at tackling the enormous food shortages. Each year some four million people need food aid to prevent starvation – regardless of drought or rainfall. That number has been steadily growing over the years. The task force will also look beyond the controversial resettlement policy and water harvesting strategy – the major tenets of Ethiopia’s fight against food insecurity. Called the Coalition for Food Security in Ethiopia, the group was set up in June after a two-day summit between the Ethiopian government and the international community. They will meet continuously over the next three months before beginning the process of implementing workable projects. The task force is already being hailed as a significant development and a platform for fresh ideas on tackling food shortages and structural problems within the country. Ethiopia has been facing increasingly recurrent droughts and fears are also mounting that the country could face another major food shortfall next year. With the country’s rapid population growth totalling some 1.8 million a year, humanitarian experts are expressing concern over the ability to meet additional crises. Within 25 years the population will have doubled from 67 million – making Ethiopia one of the most densely populated countries in sub-Saharan Africa.