Sep 5th 2011, 17:27 by J.L. | NAIROBI
IN THE worst hunger crisis the world has seen this century, in the Horn of Africa, 29,000 children may already have perished. More are certain to. But apart from hand-wringing, what have been the reactions to the famine?
The world might think it has moved on since the Ethiopian famine of 1984-85. But charities are using the same emotive photos they used then to pitch for money. Television cameras are just as intrusive—perhaps more so. Camera crews have been thrown out of a hospital in the Dadaab refugee camp, in Kenya, in an effort to preserve the dignity of the patients. "Without pictures it is difficult to get action," laments an Ethiopian government official. Even so, the media cycle has changed since the pre-internet days. So has Africa itself.
The celebrity appeal for this famine is coming from Africans themselves. An organisation called Africans Act 4 Africa says it wants to gather together African stars to raise money and awareness. It claims Kenyans have already texted in $2m in donations on their mobile phones. If it continues to have a voice on Facebook and Twitter, Act 4 Africa's bigger influence may be to compel African governments to be more generous. The United Nations says it has only $1.3 billion of the $2.4 billion it needs to assist the 12m people in need in the region. However ambiguous those numbers are, there is no doubting the miserable response of African countries so far. Only a handful have pledged anything. The biggest contribution has come from South Africa. But it has given just $1m and a planeload of food, though its farmers profiting from rising food prices. More positive has been the response of African businesses. Kenyan companies have given $4m in famine relief. Abdirashid Duale, the owner of Dahabshiil, Somalia's biggest money transfer company, has given $100,000. "Just the beginning," Mr Duale says.
The famine has prompted a shift in American foreign policy, for now at least. Robert Paarlberg, a food policy expert at Wellesley College, argues that the American administration has focused on counter-terrorism in Somalia at the expense of investing in agriculture or helping the people. Now the secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, says America will not prosecute charities who deal with the al-Qaeda-linked Shabab militia as long as they are engaged in "good-faith" efforts to help the dying. Mr Paarlberg argues that the famine in the 1980s coincided with a drop in official American funding for farmers in Africa. Again, Mrs Clinton seems determined not to make the same mistake. She underlined the importance of spending on long-term recovery in the Horn of Africa during a visit to an agriculture think-tank in Washington. DC.
The Ethiopian and Kenyan governments have been particularly torn in their response to the famine. Ethiopia says it needs more cash from donors to feed 5m of its 82m people. But it is also desperate to avoid being defined again by hunger. Prime Minister Meles Zenawi made a state visit to China last week to extol investment opportunities. A $163m deal by a Dutch brewer, Heineken, to buy up two state-owned Ethiopian beer labels, with ambitions to replace German malt with local malt, is just one example of the bustle away from the famine.
For Kenya, the hundreds of thousands of Somalis drifting into the country is a national security issue. Kenyan officials worry that the Dadaab camp, which already has over 400,000 registered refugees, is going to mutate into a Somali city inside its borders. Fundraising aside, the famine has not been an urgent issue in Kenya. The pressure on food and fuel prices for those in the cities is more politically charged. The World Bank says the price of maize is getting more attention: a competing news story this week was the opening of the first Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant in Kenya.
The famine has conveniently underlined the existing views of many experts. In inflated prices and stolen food anti-corruption campaigners see proof of how aid rots everything it touches. Climatologists see evidence of climate change. The Indian Ocean is warming up, they venture, and the poorest Africans will suffer the consequences in drought and volatile rains.
Today, in contrast to 1984-85, the argument against deathly images is stronger. Majka Burhardt, a climber and motivational speaker who works to promote a positive impression of Ethiopia, argues for interspersing the negative with positive images. "What would happen if an image of a lush coffee forest was flashed on the screen?" she asks. "A lake? A working clinic?"
For better or for worse, the famine is useful platform. Many of the world's development ministers have made the trek to Dadaab, in part to boost the profile of their ministries. Deborah Doane of the World Development Movement, a lobby for "fairer world trade", points out that donor money only buys half as much food as it did a decade ago. The steep rise in food prices, she argues, is the result of speculation in the futures markets; the famine is a chance for stricter financial regulation. In the end though, everyone looks to the sky. As one World Food Programme official notes, "aid cannot make it rain."
On this blog our correspondents delve into the politics, economics and culture of the continent of Africa, from Cairo to the Cape. The blog takes its name from the baobab, a massive tree that grows throughout much of Africa. It stores water, provides food and is often called the tree of life.
Advertisement
Over the past five days
Over the past seven days
Advertisement
Subscribe to The Economist's free e-mail newsletters and alerts.
Subscribe to The Economist's latest article postings on Twitter
See a selection of The Economist's articles, events, topical videos and debates on Facebook.
Advertisement
Readers' comments
The Economist welcomes your views. Please stay on topic and be respectful of other readers. Review our comments policy.
You must be logged in to post a comment. Log in to your account.
Don't have an account? Register
Sort:
I apologize if you have read this before, but this essay is still pertinent.
In 1960, China was experiencing their worst famine in history. At the time, China was overpopulated, impoverished, and running out of resources. People were malnourished, racked by disease and dying in the streets--worst than North Korea or Sudan today.
Africa by contrast, was the future: embracing western education, courting business, and accepting any and all Western Aid. It had oil, fertile farmland, abundant water, forests, minerals, and diamonds. Friendly people. Accepting of science, medicine and vaccinations. And NGO Aid came and became institutionalized. The UN poured resources in by the billions!
The Chinese leaders took a different tact from Africa. They denied any NGO, UN, or private relief organization access. The Chinese refused Aid and more was shunted to Africa. The Chinese suffered the famine and millions died.
But a valuable lesson was learned. Never again. And efforts were redoubled. And instead of aid, China worked on cultivating sustainable trade. Being a low cost producer for cheap trinkets for gum ball machines, cheap footware, clothing and housewares. Factory jobs, dirty jobs, tedious jobs--they sought the business at cut rate prices. They learned and moved up the value chain.
And China lifted 300 million from absolute abject poverty into sustainable working class. This is the single largest poverty reduction program in the history of the world! Probably the most significant Social Event of the 20th Century.
And today China is the 2nd largest economy in the world, growing faster than 90% of world economies, and poised to become the largest by 2016.(IMF 2011)
Africa has declined in the worst nightmare way. Accepting Aid, brought dependence, corruption, lack of accountable government and overall a learned helplessness. Civil war, guerrilla warfare, genocide, major recurring natural disasters, piracy.
NGOs are present not for acute crisis but for decades if not generations. And their presence perpetuates their need for future generations. Aid came to Ethiopia and Somalia in the 60s. It was another drought that brought them in again in the 80s. And now it is another emergency in 2011.
What is the long term success of current relief aid programs? It is an endless cycle of aid dependence and perpetuation. Your great, great, great grandchild will be solicited to donate to African Aid relief.
International Relief Aid is at best a mixed blessing. We do not need celebrities with occasional telethons or African Aid Relief Concert Tours. Fashionable, Poster Child of the Month, only to be dumped a few months later because our patience has grown weary. Why are they still hungry?
The Market is the best social program. And we should learn from the Chinese example. The Africans deserve better.
"Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.". I believe Lao Tzu said that. Unfortunately the fathers of those malnourished children think it's more interesanting to run around with AK47's. Maybe along with a plate a food they should receive some education and a kind advice: "Your daddy is not cool with his AK47. A worker is cool. He can feed his family." Who knows, maybe it will catch on, and the next generation won't have to beg for food too.
Both khmTzic3YT and vladkhan wrote made excellent points that make a lot of sense. khmTzic3YT's case point of China is particularly apt in the present situation.
But time is now the essence, so let’s donate now for the immediate crisis (China has donated millions and many others too on this relief, BTW) and then to be followed immediately afterwards by “fishing rod making”.
The biggest problem I think in African famine relief is not the corruption or inefficiency in aid delivery albeit they do cut down relief effectiveness a great deal.
Perhaps the biggest problem lies with these good Samaritan NGOs themselves with permanent set up in Africa. Their job there was to drum up donations and deliver them to the needy, making themselves gainful employers there. That in a way is unwittingly, or worse deliberately for some, inhibiting or discouraging “fishing rod making” for the local people there.
We can't discount global warming and drought as some contributing factor too, but it's such double jeopardy of noble cause cause dependency plus skewed market force playing due to inhibited or lack of self drive that is making famine in Africa a repeat of tragedy almost year after year, IMO.
Unfortunately, this latest African famine comes at a time of great financial crisis in the West.
This economic crisis that is affecting the U.S. and Europe, along with long-standing political instability, seemingly never-ending civil wars and a severe lack of the rule of law in several African nations means that those suffering in Africa are for all intents and purposes being left to twist in the wind.
Sad, but true.
I have heard African leader after African leader posit about how they don't need or want Western (read: "Imperialist") aid. Fine. Get your ACT TOGETHER, and there'll be no such offers...
I have heard African leader after African leader posit about how they don't need or want Western (read: "Imperialist") aid. Fine. Get your ACT TOGETHER, and there'll be no such offers...
The situation is simple.
At the moment we do not care about what happens in Africa, because it is far from us, geographically and mentally.
We do not even care if our neighbor's house burns down as long as it does not affect us.
Most of the people raising money, or raising awareness for any "good cause" are doing it to boost their own profile, or their bank balance.
And we do not even want to see the gory images as it makes us feel uncomfortable.
Until we start to understand that global world means that we are all in one boat, completely interconnected and interdependent, and although it might be Africa, Greece, or Middle East today, it will be us tomorrow, as every "local crisis or problem" is connected with multiple ties, and it spreads like any other contagious disease.
Unless we start examining, planning, thinking and acting together as one huge, united organism we will slide down into the global crisis deeper and deeper, until the waves reach all of us.
We need to be mutually responsible, including each and every human being, and place the benefit of the whole ahead of individual benefits.
khm
I agree to most of your message. I live in China and am witnessing amazing growth every day! Truly fascinating.
But Africa is not China, the working ethic, crime (the everyday crime in China is almost nonexistent), focus on education.... those things are and always were missing from the African continent.
Good universities were those run by and for Europeans (good example - Uni of Harare).
You are right that Africa has wasted away its advantage but I would say it has much more to do with culture than with western aid agencies...
KhmTzic3YT,
sir, I find your opinion of the Great Leap Forward quite disturbing.
Famine is never a nessecary cost; only a side effect of poor government. That China has escaped hunger for the time being only idicates that their administrators are competent.
Rather than blame the NGO's, why not investigate the feasability of an African Union Department of Agriculture that borrows from America's?
American & European farmers faced the same economic challenges as those in the developing world. There were food shortages, although luckily no true famines in North America. While there are many differences in the way wealthy governments manage food supply, every food producing country heavily regulates the industry. If Africa is to end hunger, it will need its own department of agriculture.
I may get bitten for saying so, but the USDA is the world's best argument for socialism.
Alternatively, South Africa could conquer Zimbabwe and recoup the costs by exporting food. This would be my favorite solution.
Many countries around the world need to work on population control as well as teaching food self-sufficiency. Ethiopia is the size of Texas yet has 90 million people which is equivalent to 1/3 the population of the whole U.S. Way too many people for the climate they live in. If you donate food to the starving children and they procreate and double the population over a few decades, the end result will be that even more will be starving at a later date. The cycle of starvation continues.
@ vladkhan
Working all day won't make rain fall, this is a drought.
@ khmTzic3YT
Refusing outside aid (or rather meddling in the opinion) didn't do North Korea any good, they still starving uselessly years after years, while American aid help Europe to get back on its feet after WWII.
Every country is a different case, something that works for one may not work for the next. And sometimes the guys in charge have just no intention to make things better for their compatriots, they just want too loot as much as they can before they are forced to leave.
Forget the food aid, Tupperware and "do they know it's Christmas" mentality. A good dose of population control along with a doo-gooder emetic will solve their issues. Bad governance is a side issue. Most countries experience drought at some time or other. The problem with countries in the Horn is that human and livestock populations far exceed the carrying capacity of the land. The West has been throwing billions into this African black hole with zero success. Hence, money is not the solution. Changing procreation lifestyles is!
@craige
Hong Kong has also exceeded the number of people that the land can support and yet they are doing great!
It is not the number it is the life style... Traditionally goats and sheep brought disaster and deforestation anywhere from Ancient Greece to Africa if overdone!!
The problem is there is no solution now cause those people do not have the necessary skills to do anything else!
"..IN THE worst hunger crisis the world has seen this century, in the Horn of Africa, 29,000 children may already have perished. More are certain to. But apart from hand-wringing, what have been the reactions to the famine?...."
Their Reaction, has been to Focus on Libya & it's Sparse Population!
There are Many MORE People @ RISK, than All those who Inhabit Libya!!
I'd Like to SEE what NATO, has in Plan to Save the Day!!!
Then Again, Do NOT Hold your Breath......................
Peace, Love & Respect.
khmTzic3YT - I find your comparison with the Mao-made Chinese famine not just to be as silly but also is desperately poor taste - demonstrating horrendous ignorance regarding poverty and strife in Africa and the work of NGOs. Moreover, Somalia is a basket case even by African standards and needs an objective approach.
Hunger is not an economical problem. Development aid without regime change is a complete waste of resources. But changing politics in Africa is the sole responsibility of Africans. Ghaddafi was a one off. NATO can't bomb away all the cleptocrats.
Looking at this from the UK, it's worth noting that even in these cash-strapped times, the DEC has succeeded in raising £57 million for famine relief (http://dec.org.uk/blog/uk-public-donate-%C2%A357m-east-africa-crisis). Which isn't up to the high levels set by the Pakistan flood response (£71m) or the Haiti Earthquake response (£107m), far less the boxing day Tsunami (£390m), but still pretty significant.