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Some of this can be blamed on bad luck; African weather patterns have been
especially erratic this planting season. Some of it is venality; in
Zimbabwe, President Robert Mugabe is purposely starving his political
enemies. Zambia still senselessly resists donations of genetically modified
corn.
At the very least, Congress needs to ensure that the $325 million budgeted
for 2003 is approved quickly
EDITORIAL
The Washington Post
Washington, D.C.
Sunday, January 19, 2003; Page B06
REP. FRANK R. WOLF (R-Va.) just got back from Ethiopia and showed around his
pictures from the field -- the blank eyes, the bloated bellies balancing on
two sticks -- and people thought he was in a time warp. "Yes, this again"
he's been telling his colleagues. Just as in 1984, the ribs are starting to
show and the cupboards are on their last cup of grain, not just in Ethiopia
but in much of southern Africa. But this is not merely a replay of the last
famine. This time there is a cooperative government in Ethiopia, and
everywhere else the aid workers have arrived in time. What is still needed
is critical but manageable: Western governments and other donors must ensure
that over the next few months the food pipeline stays open and runs
smoothly.
The term "famine in Africa" may seem exotic and remote, especially with war
and domestic terrorism so imminent. But zoom in on the elemental: Famine is
about rain at the wrong time and seeds that won't sprout and parents with
children who need nourishment. In Ethiopia, Mr. Wolf traveled as far from
the capital as Richmond is from Washington. There he found a village of a
few hundred where even the kids were too weak to move. One man had been
digging a well for two days in the hot sun; he'd had his last drink -- a cup
of putrid brown water -- the day before. One mother opened her storage bin
mostly for effect. It was empty. "My kids are kind of mad at me," she
explained. "They don't understand why I can't help them."
Some of this can be blamed on bad luck; African weather patterns have been
especially erratic this planting season. Some of it is venality; in
Zimbabwe, President Robert Mugabe is purposely starving his political
enemies. Zambia still senselessly resists donations of genetically modified
corn. Compounding it all is the astounding AIDS infection rate, which is
killing off the farming generation and has made people less able to operate
in survival mode. But it's almost better not to dwell on the causes. The
important thing is that in the next few months before the new harvest, about
30 million people are in danger of starvation.
In contrast to 1984, the international aid community is prepared. The Bush
administration just authorized the U.S. Agency for International Development
(USAID) to pledge a large shipment of food to Ethiopia, and supplies have
been reaching southern Africa for the last few months. But resources are
spread thin. There are eight African countries at risk, plus Afghanistan and
North Korea. At the very least, Congress needs to ensure that the $325
million budgeted for 2003 is approved quickly. Aid groups have pushed for an
additional $600 million, a request Senate Minority Leader Thomas A. Daschle
included in his Africa Famine Relief Act. But some aid workers in the field
are nervous about depending on that legislation; it is subject to debate,
and there's no time to debate.
Another option is to draw on the Emerson Trust, an emergency food reserve
administered by the Department of Agriculture. Given the time crunch, this
seems like the best option. So far the only resistance comes from domestic
food producers worried about rising food prices -- an understandable but
secondary concern. Andrew Natsios, head of USAID, traveled in Ethiopia last
week; a shipment of grain, he said, takes eight weeks to get from the port
of Baltimore to Ethiopia. "The biggest enemy of all famine relief is time,"
he said. "People don't die on our schedule."
EDITORIAL, The Washington Post, Washington, D.C.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A9016-2003Jan17.html
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