ETHIOPIA: Drought need not mean hunger and destitution, according to Oxfam
NAIROBI, 22 October 2009 (IRIN) – With droughts becoming more common, donors and the Ethiopian government must look beyond the traditional “band aid” responses to disasters by using approaches that are more cost-effective, sustainable and better suited to the population, international aid agency Oxfam says in a new report.
– We cannot make the rains come, but there is much more that we can do to break the cycle of drought-driven disaster in Ethiopia and the Horn of Africa, Penny Lawrence, Oxfams international director, states, adding:
– Food aid offers temporary relief and has kept people alive in countless situations, but does not tackle the underlying causes that continue to make people vulnerable to disaster year after year.
Oxfam issued the report, “Band Aids and Beyond”, on 22 October, the 25th anniversary of one of Ethiopia’s worst famines when an estimated one million people died. The report looks at how aid has worked since 1984, arguing that the current donor trend of focusing on emergency food aid has to change.
– Donors need to shift their approach, and help to give communities the tools to tackle disasters before they strike, Lawrence said.
– Drought does not need to mean hunger and destitution. If communities have irrigation for crops, grain stores and wells to harvest rains then they can survive despite what the elements throw at them, she noted.
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