From: Berhane Habtemariam (Berhane.Habtemariam@gmx.de)
Date: Fri Oct 30 2009 - 12:26:42 EST
'Starvation by aid' has to stop
National Post Published: Tuesday, October 27, 2009
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http://www.nationalpost.com/todays-paper/story.html?id=2149105
Re: Ethiopia's Humanitarian Crisis Dominated By 'Band-Aids,' Oct. 22.
At last, Oxfam recognizes that "the humanitarian response to drought and
other disasters is still dominated by "Band-Aids ... instead of finding ways
to reduce the risks of recurring crisis."
Western donors should ask themselves why Ethiopia, after 18 years of nearly
unfettered access to Western aid, continues to be unable to feed its people?
A major reason is that the communist-style Ethiopian government continues to
be the sole landowner in Ethiopia. Since they do not own the land they farm,
farmers are reluctant to invest and expand. Decades of such policy has
resulted in stagnant agricultural productivity, while the population
continues to rise.
Western governments, including Canada, are complicit in this policy disaster
as they continue to give the Ethiopian government all the aid it wants,
while asking for no accountability or real improvements in policy.
This practice of "starvation by aid" has to stop. If the Ethiopian
government does not reform and co-operate, let it face the consequences of
its disastrous policies.
Naz Yemane, CKDU Radio Halifax-Voice of Eritrea, Dartmouth, N.S.