A
Vast Drought Disaster Threatens
Main
Idea:
A vast drought across
Summary:
Drought has ravaged crops
across the country with the
In August the Ethiopian
government requested nearly the same amount of relief they requested in the
drought of 1985, 1.1 million tons of food.
That estimate is thought to be a low number this time around. The head of relief operations, Michael
Priestley, says the donations are satisfactory but the lack of transportation is
the major obstacle. They currently
have 306 long-haul trucks and they need a minimum of 300 or more. During October’s rebel ambush the relief
agency lost 23 trucks. After the
ambush relief shipments stopped but have recently started up again despite rebel
warnings.
The rebel group Eritrean
People’s Liberation Front says they have a policy of no obstruction for relief
activities but accuse the relief trucks of transporting military supplies to the
Ethiopian army.
There were rains in June and
farmers planted crops but July was almost completely dry. There were rains again in August and
farmers again replanted, but the rains stopped again. The most severe drought is estimated to
be in
Many blame the Ethiopian
government because they force farmers to sell much of their harvest surpluses to
the state at low prices. Western
aid officials are negotiating with the government to revise their policy to
reduce state intervention in farming.