Agency launches appeal to counter Ethiopia crisis
The generosity of Irish donors could prevent a chronic food shortage from taking the lives of thousands of hungry people, an aid agency claimed today.
Emergency funding is being raised to provide vital food and health supplies to tens of thousands of Ethiopians who are on the brink of starving to death.
Almost 25 years after a famine sparked Band Aid, a drought – compounded by spiralling food and oil prices – has left around 10 million people with no means of living.
Concern, Ireland’s largest NGO, said there is not enough food in the country to meet demand and more money is needed to fund live saving programmes on the ground.
Aine Fay, the organisation’s country director, revealed the situation will deteriorate over the next four weeks.
“Irish people are struggling with the global rise in food prices and see the cost of a weekly basket going up, but we can still make choices and decide what to buy,” she said.
“In Ethiopia, people never had those choices to start with and now, with the cost of food and having no crops to eat or sell, they can’t afford anything.
“The challenge for us and other agencies is to prevent death by bringing food in to the villages and towns.
“The generosity of the Irish is so well known and I’ve no doubt they will respond.”
Rations from the Ethiopian government are reaching some 5.7m people, but even those are being cut back as demand for emergency aid rises and productivity in factories is cut because of on ongoing power cuts.
Vital supplies being shipped to the African country are not expected to arrive until August and some agencies fear a 100% deficit in the amount of grain needed this month.
The food crisis in parts of the country is so critical people are too weak to walk to health and distribution centres for aid.
Concern recently launched an emergency appeal to raise €2m to give food and farming supplies to helpless families.
Ms Fay said staff are stretched to the limit.
“The situation is as bad as we thought it could possibly get for people in Ethiopia,” continued Ms Fay.
“There are no crops in the fields and people have no food coming in. But over the next four weeks that situation will deteriorate even further.
“Every single one of us (agencies) are going to experience food shortages. July is going to be very hard for all of us with no easy solution.”
On Wednesday, former president Mary Robinson will address a seminar in Dublin marking the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights on how and why the world needs to tackle the growing global phenomenon of hunger.
Staged by Concern and ActionAid, the key speakers will examine some of the key issues surrounding the current food crisis – including the impact on women, why land rights are important and why social protection mechanisms need to be extended in developing countries.
