Addis Ababa (Fides Service) - "In Ethiopia the situation is very serious, Archbishop Silvano Maria Tomasi , Nuncio in Ethiopia and Eritrea, tells Fides with regard to the situation of famine. "It is estimated that already 6 million people face starvation and that if aid is not immediate by March- April of next year the number will reach the 14-15 million mark. The Ethiopian government and the United Nations estimate that to feed this number of people until Autumn next year, 2 million tons of food are needed. This, on the condition that the drought ends and harvests suffice to feed the people".
Many are asking what are the causes of drought?
"A casual spectator is surprised to see that such a vast country as Ethiopia (three times the size of Italy) with a population of 67 million, is prey to recurrent food crises. But much of the territory is mountainous desert, unsuited for farming, and climatic conditions are unpredictable. This year for example the rainy season (January-February and April-May) were particularly dry damaging crops. The people are 85% subsistence farmers. It is a question of a very backward economic structure in which all the land is state owned. This means that those who work the land have neither the interest nor the economic means to make improvements such as irrigation canals and fertilisers. So hunger is mainly due to a lack of infra-structures, water for example is plentiful: 90% of the water of the River Nile comes from Ethiopia.
"I would add that not only Ethiopia is struck by drought. The entire Horn of Africa is in difficulty. Eritrea with a population of 3.3 million, has announced that no less than 2.4 million risk starvation. Besides those in Ethiopia, another 16 to 17 million lives are in danger. Immediate action must be taken."
What is being done in the way of aid by the government and the local Catholic Church?
"The government is taking serious measures. Compared to the 1999-2000 famine there has been better co-ordination between the NGOs in the work of distributing food, particularly in the most isolated areas. The local Catholic Church is also very active. The national Catholic Secretariats in Ethiopia and in Eritrea are co-ordinating aid in areas under the care of Catholic organisations distributing food, medicines, blankets and tents. Aid work is also ecumenical. The local Catholic Church, the Lutheran community and the Ethiopian Orthodox Church have formed a Joint Christian Relief body which is very active in distributing aid to people in drought stricken areas."
Fides Service intends to devote a section of its web-site to the scourge of HUNGER, a problem still chronic in many countries of the world. (Fides Service 21/11/2002)