The Quitters Never Win

Amen Teferi

Typically, Ethiopia has two rainy seasons. The heavy summer (meher) rains are crucial and 90 percent of the country’s farmland is rain-fed. Before last year, when in the 18 months lead up to the onset of the 2015 drought, hot and dry weather patterns arising from the El Niño weather effect had left vast areas of the country without rain. Hence, farm production in the affected regions dropped as much as 90 percent. That was the harshest drought and Ethiopia had faced and the worst emergency in 50 years. Then, 18 million people—nearly a fifth of the country’s population, were needing food aid. Again this year another drought has crippled the country’s agricultural lowlands and pastoral areas.

Last time, when famine of biblical scope had loomed, Ethiopia were able to respond effectively by nationally monitoring, tracking, and distributing supplies that fend-off the crisis without any loss of human life –practically none. In fact, distributing supplies among such a vast population, down to such local levels was itself vast achievement.

Ethiopia has dealt with multiple droughts since 1984, including severe ones in 2000 and 2011. It has a preventive initiative such as the Productive Safety Net Program (PSNP) to monitor potential crisis. The PSNP is one of the major preventive initiatives designed to coordinate the monthly distribution of food rations to people chronically at risk. In return, recipients provide labor to build roads, schools, health posts, food storage warehouses, and water reservoirs. The PSNP also includes regular assessments of damage to farms and of the scope and urgency of nutritional needs, data that helps warn of potential crises.

Therefore when the first signs of trouble became visible in 2015, the PSNP had immediately responded using the network of roads, warehouses, and local distribution points. That mechanism had made possible the provision of rapid response to the worst-hit regions or localities using established infrastructures that needs to be scaled up for a rapid response in time of crisis.

In the harshest crisis we saw in 2015 Ethiopia didn’t have that much breathing room. And some in the international aid community or agencies were grumbling that the disaster hadn’t been anticipated sooner, nor more swiftly declared a crisis. They have even tended to accuse “that the government was reluctant to admit they were back facing problems of hunger and malnourished children.”

While the international aid partners opted to direct their fingers at the government and began to accuse the government, something unprecedented had happened. Ethiopian government started to scramble to fill the funding and supply void and became the lead investor in rescue mission of its own people.

For more than a decade there has been strong economic growth. Thus, the government was able to divert huge flows of domestic revenue into the drought response—almost $800 million across 18 months. Then, the country’s aid partners have contributed another $700 million.

The result has been acclaimed as perhaps the largest drought-relief effort, with the fewest human fatalities relative to the scale of the crisis that the world has ever seen. This was a response that is identified to serve other African countries as a blueprint in building resilience against the climate pressures ahead.

Ethiopia had shown her ability to provide aid to chronically food-insecure Ethiopians who are totally accounted to be more than 18 million people—nearly a fifth of the country’s population. The logistics of rapidly disseminating so much aid requires that you have enough dollars in the bank, buying food and bringing it through shipping to the ports, into warehouses, and into people’s homes. This is a daunting task that can’t happen overnight and it might take three months or more.

When the first signs of trouble became visible, the PSNP was already providing regular rations to 8 million people and the drought had brought another 10.2 million people who need food provision. And Ethiopia had successfully responded to such huge crisis and it is doing the same now.

Astonished by the system of response to 2015 drought, a field coordinator at FAO, Alemu Manni, had said: “the mechanics of the system are beautiful. To be able to nationally monitor, track, and distribute supplies among such a vast population, down to such local levels—it’s a vast achievement.”

There is another line to this story. Ethiopia’s gross domestic product was among the fastest-growing in Africa, with its textile and agricultural sectors growing alongside its infrastructure. Besides, agricultural productivity has more than tripled in the past 30 years. In short, industries, agriculture, service sectors, and foreign direct investment had helped the government generate the funds for its share of the emergency response budget.

Ethiopia has been channeling much of the nation’s domestic revenue into development projects—from the construction of major dams for hydroelectricity to large-scale industrial farms and modern textile refineries—and were able to divert some of the development funds to the relief effort, while also tapping fresh funds directly from domestic revenues.

The leaders had acted decisively to secure funds and mobilize relief. The government was very responsive at that time the 2015 environmental crisis and it continue to do so now. Apart the immediate work of relief, Ethiopia is also engaged in long term initiatives, in hopes of forestalling the next crisis. While it is trying to cope-up with the relief responses, it is working all the necessary things to build a drought resistance shape; soil and water conservation, fodder programs, irrigation and well development, improving productivity of range land for cattle, seed supply.

Robinson, the UN climate change envoy, told to Bloomberg: “We can reasonably expect that somewhere between three and seven years from now, this region will experience the effects of a more severe El Niño aggravated by climate change.” The next drought that will hit Ethiopia will be, in fact, more severe than the last one. This could eclipse the response capacity of any aid-relief effort—no matter how generously funded and well-oiled. Hence, long-term initiatives that would built-in resilience are the best defense. As it is doing her best to aptly respond to the crisis it now faces, Ethiopia is working to make aid provision an obsolete mission. That is its goal. We are steadfastly fighting the climate change with a belief that “a quitter never wins, and a winner never quit.” We never quit!   

Economic empowerment of women

Tesfaye Lemma

The struggle to empower women should make its base on attitudinal changes. In changing the entire situation of the position of woman in a society, it is of paramount importance to watch out carefully backward practices that could retard women health and psychology. Such practices were rife in the previous regimes.

A lot of favorable conditions that benefited women have created.  Women were suffering of miserable life. They faced both gender and class impositions. The situation has absolutely changed with in the aftermath of the fall of the dictatorial military rule in 1991. The Ethiopian Constitution has already guaranteed equal opportunity to women with the men.  

The Ethiopian Constitution underlined that women have equal right with men in marriage. It also stated, “The historical legacy of inequality and discrimination suffered by women in Ethiopia taken into account, women, in order to remedy this legacy, are entitled to affirmative measures”.

The major objective is to provide special attention to women so as to enable them to compete and participate on the basis of equality with men in political, social and economic life as well as in public and private institutions.

The constitution also emphasized that women have the right to acquire, administer, control, use and transfer property.

The past twenty five years witnessed that women have got opportunities that would set them on an equal footing with men.

It was public secret that in the previous regimes, inequality between women and men was widely apparent in university classrooms, workplace, at homes and everywhere.

Since then, the lives of women and girls around the world have improved dramatically in many respects throughout the country. Now females are going to school more, living longer, getting better jobs, and acquiring legal rights and protections.

Every aspect of gender equality access to education, health, economic opportunities, voice within households and society has experienced a mixed pattern of change over the past twenty five years.

The rights and voice of all women  has now ratified.  However, do to the backward attitude in the society yet, in women have less say than men when it comes to decisions and resources in their households. Women are also much more likely to suffer domestic violence.  The number of women participate in formal politics, especially at higher levels has increasing from time to time.

The government has been working hard to eliminate all kinds of barriers against women in all sectors or occupations in the country.

Recognizant of the significance of empowering women in all aspects: economically, politically and socially contributing to the development of the country and to create healthy society, the Ethiopian government has been working to empower women.

The efforts exerted so far to diminish gender differences in household and societal voice, policies need to address the combined influence of social norms and beliefs, women’s access to economic opportunities, the legal framework, and women’s education has registered an encouraging result.

As women’s economic empowerment is a prerequisite for sustainable development and pro- poor growth, the Ethiopian government has exerted efforts to enhance their economic empowerment.  In  agriculture,  gender  differences  in productivity  almost disappear as the government created equal  access to land  and  productive  inputs

Researches indicate that productivity differences between female-owned and male-owned businesses are almost narrowed the differences. 

According to recent reports women are actively involved in all aspects of their society's life. They are both producers and procreators and they are also active participants in the social, political, and cultural activities of their communities.

In fact, economic development is unthinkable without the participation of women. In some economic sectors women even constitute a proportionally larger group of the labor force than men.

During the civil war Ethiopian women made a unique contribution, both as freedom fighters and as civilian supporters, to challenging and ousting the brutal and incompetent regime of the Derg, as well as during the famine, displacements, and drought conditions which accompanied it.

The Ethiopian constitution and the actions taken to enhance women’s beneficiary in the country brought a period of relief to them. They have been experiencing the benefits of their labor on an equal basis with men.

Past twenty five years witnessed that the government of Ethiopia, both the Transitional Government and the first elected Government in 1995, has given priority to the speeding up of equality between men and women.

Women’s demand to participate actively in national development and to exercise their right to enjoy its fruits is now receiving support in government and local communities.

The first priorities are to improve the level of income of women by facilitating opportunities and woman-friendly conditions in the workplace, to improve the health and nutrition of mothers and their children and to upgrade and improve their education.

The government also encourage favorable conditions for the formation of new women's associations, as well as to strengthen existing associations, so that women can have a hand in the resolution of their problems.

This Policy has formulated to focus on what the government ought to do for women, and what women must do for themselves through their own free associations, as well as to show the relationships between the two.

The Ethiopian government has also facilitated conditions conducive to the speeding up of equality between men and women so that women can participate in the political, social, and economic life of their country on equal terms with men, ensuring that their right to own property as well as their other human rights are respected and that they are not excluded from the enjoyment of the fruits of their labor. 

The efforts include facilitating the necessary condition whereby rural women can have access to basic social services and to ways and means of lightening their workload.

The policy formulated by the Ethiopian government aimed to create appropriate structures within government offices and institutions to establish equitable and gender-sensitive public policies.

In fact, there are still various challenges to avoid hundred percent of the problems that women faced. Despite all those positive and encouraging activities, there are also more challenges in implementing the policy properly.

These could include lack of political commitment, legal support and institutional arrangement the bureaucratic resistance to accept the gender experts as equal partners and to the gender equitable integration of woman as subject of public policy. 

However, recent reports indicated that the overall efforts to empower women in the past twenty five years have become so successful despite all these challenges.  Therefore, May 28 witnessed a large number of empowered women.

Averting drought crisis

                                                                                                      Tesfay Lemma

Ethiopians faced various natural and manmade challenges in the past two decades. Eritrea’s aggression, internal instability and the drought are some of the major challenges. Of these, the later is the current challenge that Ethiopians have been struggling to withstand it meaningfully.

It differs from similar challenges in the previous periods in many reasons. One could be the fertile political, social and economical grounds that the country has already created in managing the current food crises. In this regard,  the fast and sustainable economic growth that the country has registered in the past twenty five years, particularly in the first Growth and Transformation Plan in which a number of huge development projects have come to reality raising the potential of the country to build a multi-billion USD projects.

The current drought in Ethiopia has affected some 10.2 million people in 2015/6. However that huge number was reduced to 5.6 million this year. In fact, this is the result of the consolidated efforts by the Federal and Regional states along with the cooperation of the entire people and development partners.

The Ethiopian government now seeks about 950 million USD to feed its people affected by the drought in 2017.   International organizations along with government teams have assessed the current drought disaster that the group has moved to all the drought affected areas and assessed what is currently going on there and what should be needed in the coming year, 2017.

National Disaster Risk Management Commission announced that an envoy categorized in 23 groups has recently surveyed the drought vulnerable areas. These groups have observed about 250 woredas and assured that there are currently about 5.6 million people who badly deserve food aid in 2017.

According to the report of the commission, of the total number of people who need food assistance,  36 percent are in Oromiya, 29 percent in Somali, 11 percent in Amhara and the remaining  24 percent are in the pastoralist areas.

For this, the federal government along with regional states has already allocated 75 million USD for food, water, medicine and animal fodder to withstand the drought. The government has been focusing on two major tasks. Firstly, keeping and maintaining the effect of the drought to zero death risk. This has successfully undergoing. So far, no one died due to the impact of the drought.  Secondly, the government has been watching their sole wealth, cattle.

The government is intensively working to minimize the death of animals in the pastoral areas. However, this is not 100 percent effective. A number of animals died due to the impact of the drought. While the government paid its entire attention to save the lives of the people, reports indicated that there were some animal deaths.

The commission has been working cooperatively with Ministry of Livestock and Fishery Development in order to encourage the people to sell their cattle. The attempt is to buy the cattle at reasonable prices and then sell back to them at the same price when they will be in a good condition. It is one of the crucial issues that the government has been doing to assist the people in the areas where the drought is so severe.

The government has spent 16.5 billion birr to tackle the El-Nino effects so far that the country has allocated that huge sum of money as it is now in a new phase which is different from what it was some three decades ago.

Over the last twenty five years, Ethiopia has had remarkable economic growth, with real gross domestic product growth averaging 10.9 percent in 2004-2014. The country’s growth has been stable and rapid, according to Ethiopia Humanitarian Requirements 2016. 

This is one of the major undeniable reasons that enabled the country to withstand the drought disaster manifesting the death risks to zero. It’s so historical to the people in the country’s drought history.

Historical documents indicated that the country had experienced a severe drought in 1983-1985. It was absolutely out of the hands of the government. As a result it caused the death of hundreds of thousands of people. 

In the contrary to those past droughts, the current drought never claimed the death of anyone so far. This is because of the fact that   both economic and political enabling condition have created in the past twenty five years that have attributed significantly to manage the current crises as a result of the consolidated endeavors commenced to ensure sustainable economic progress.

Currently the number of people who need food assistance is reduced to 5.6 million from 10.2 million. The country needs more than 950 million USD for food and non-food assistances in 2017, which is much lower than the 1.4 billion USD allocated in 2016.  The Government has already allocated additional 75 million USD.   

The Federal Government, Regional Governments and the people have been exerting consolidated efforts not only to uphold the death risks of the drought to zero but also to maintain the wealth of the people in areas affected by drought through providing grazing areas to them. People in the neighboring areas of that are not affected by the drought allowed their brothers and sisters in nearby areas affected by the drought to immigrate their cattle to their grazing areas.  

Previously, health problems were the aggravating factors that contributed to the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people. There were no enough health institutions and professionals even to help the people from communicable diseases.

But the country has now well developed capacity to control health related issue as there are health posts and centers in every village and districts staffed with a number of health professionals. This has contributed to prevent could help in prevent death risks from epidemics and communicable diseases that are major aggravator deaths in areas impacted by drought disaster.

The government of Ethiopia has given a priority attention and commitment to the drought since the very beginning. It has been wisely guiding, handling and maintaining the negative effects of the drought.

As the same time,  the people have been collaborating with the government in various ways that could add values in saving the lives of the people in areas hit by the disaster. People residing in the nearby areas have been voluntarily giving accommodation to people who displaced with their cattle.  Besides, the haves in each region have been helping the victims.

The government, the people and the development partners have come together in averting the negative impact of the severe drought. They collaborated with respective regional governments and managed to assist people residing in areas vulnerable to the drought disaster.  That is why no death has registered so far in connection to the severe drought.

Now that the number of people who need food assistance is reduced to 5.6 million and the government along with its partners has been continuing assisting them.

Therefore, the Ethiopian government has managed to meaningfully withstand the ever severe drought with minimal effects on the cattle and without any loss of lives. 

It will further strengthening its efforts in 2017. This really witnesses the country’s development and wealth accumulation in the past twenty five year. Its efforts and the results registered in alleviating poverty and ensuring sustainable economic development has greatly contributed the country from collapsing in such disasters so that the country managed to avert the drought with minimal effect on the people in areas affected with the drought.  

Challenges in African Development

Tesfaye Lemma

Many scholars argue that Africa is ever rising considering its economic development in the past ten consecutive years.  The continuous rise in infrastructure investment as the spending on  it has doubled over the past decade.

In fact, African’s economy is moving forward. Studies indicated that the continent achieved average real annual GDP growth of 5.4% between 2000 and 2010.

According to Africa Economic Forum 2016 (AEF 2016), the continents productivity grew at a compound annual rate of 1.7 percent over 2005 to 2010.

“Between 2010 and 2014, services generated 48% of Africa’s GDP growth, up from 44% in the preceding decade.  Growth in Africa’s manufacturing sector has been low at 4.3% a year between 2010 and 2014, but utilities and construction achieved significant expansion to ensure that industry overall generated 23% of Africa’s growth, up from 17% in the preceding decade. Resources made a negative 4% contribution to growth between 2010 and 2014, compared with a positive direct contribution of 12% during the previous decade,” (AEF 2016).

Africa   has had some success in creating jobs 21 million new stable jobs over the past five years, and 53 million over the past fifteen years. There is growth of stable job growth at a rate of 3.8 percent between 2000 and 2015.

The United Nations has also reported the rising of African economy. It stated that productivity in cities is three times as high as in rural areas and over the next decade, an additional 187 million Africans will live in cities. As the same time household consumption grew at a 4.2 percent compound annual rate between 2010 and 2015 faster than the continent’s GDP growth rate.

The issue of rising economy has witnessed by a lot of international and continental economic organizations. It is evident that the African economy is progressing. There are hopes that it will grow at the same rate in the years ahead. In connection to this fact, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) forecasts that Africa will be the second-fastest growing region in the world between 2016 and 2020 with annual growth rate of 4.3 percent.

However, its economic growth could be challenged by various problems. Absence of peace and stability could be one of the major challenges for this rising economy. Nowadays, there are a number of African countries are in chaos. They are in a conflicting instable situation. This could highly retard the forward move of the continent. According to AEF 2016, the continent’s growth slowed down to 3.3 percent a year between 2010 and 2015 due to the Arab spring in Egypt, Libya and Tunisia.

Another evident testimony that is expected to challenge the rising African economy could be the disharmony among all states in the continent even for significant continental interests. The disaccord among those states for mutual development could challenge the sustainability of the economic growth.  Unfair differences and rifts have observed among the African countries so far in various continental interests.  For instance, in the recent summit of the African Heads of States, there was an agenda concerning the mass withdrawal from the International Criminal Court (ICC). However, Senegal and Nigeria failed to accept the consensus reached by all other African States.

These kinds of disharmony could also be reflected at regional levels. For example, there is no harmony in handling the crises in South Sudan among all countries in the region. Countries like Eritrea and Egypt need to use the rift between the South Sudanese rivals as a room for their unfair national interests in connection to Ethiopia.

In the same token, there was also disaccord in supporting the revival of peace and stability in Somalia. Despite the relentless efforts by countries like Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda and Djibouti to support the effort of the Africa Union to bring lasting peace in that country, there are still countries in Africa that have been busy of escalating the conflicting situation via supporting al-Shabab.

Another disparity ate regional level that could significantly affect the continental peace struggle could be difference in harnessing common natural resources among countries in the Nile Basin. The failure of some of the countries in the basin to honestly cooperate in a new development framework for fair and equal utilization of the Nile Waters could not only be a treat to regional development but also a treat to regional peace and stability.

The African Union has to go a long way to avoid such contradictory interests in issues very important to the progress of the continent. There must be a mechanism that the Union could apply to enforce some conventions. AUC has to devise a system in which it could win the support of all countries in the continent mainly in connection to ensuring peace and economic growth, which were challenged by self centered attitudes.

Lack of internal peace and stability in some African countries could largely aggravate continental stability. The situations in Sudan, South Sudan, Egypt, Libya, Eritrea, Somalia, Democratic Republic of Congo and Nigeria could be typical examples. There are problems in these countries and that could contribute in retarding the entire peace of the continent. However, all African countries should realize their internal peace and stability and join the rally for continental harmony.

According to Agenda 2063 “Mechanisms for peaceful prevention and resolution of conflicts will be functional at all levels. As a first step, dialogue-centered conflict prevention and resolution will be actively promoted in such a way that by 2020 all guns will be silent. A culture of peace and tolerance shall be nurtured in Africa’s children and youth through peace education”.

If Africa is to integrate economically, there should be lasting peace and stability in the entire continent. However, this needs much effort and political commitment.  The impact of terrorists is another influential factor retarding the continent’s progress. That is why the new chairman of the African Union Commission stressed on security issues while addressing the Heads of States.

The efforts to ensure peace and stability in the continent have remained being a serious challenge to African countries. It has become uneasy to ensure a peaceful, safe, secure environment, contributing to human security and reducing fragility, foster political stability and effective governance; thereby, ensuring sustainable, inclusive growth.

Enhancing political dialogue on peace, justice, and reconciliation to implement common approaches to the peace and security challenges in Africa would be so crucial. It demands to strengthening the African Peace and Security Architecture by improving coordination at regional and continental levels.

Since February 2007, the United Nations Security Council authorized the African Union to deploy the African Union Mission in Somalia in order to promote long-term peace, security and effective governance in that country.  The intention was to encourage Africans to resolve their problems by themselves. It is impossible for other continents or developed countries to ensure peace in the African continent unless African themselves have become committed to resolve their own problems.

In fact, there is consensus among many African Heads of States in most of the continents basic interests but these decisions have not been accepted anonymously. There is a dominant reflection of self-centrism instead of thinking continental wise. For instance, the problem in Somalia persisted for years due to lack of both political commitments and concern to regional and continental peace   among all countries in the region.