A Deadly Cocktail:
Civil Strife., Repressive Regimes
and a Lack of Innovation
Famine & Foreigners: Ethiopia since Live Aid
Peter Gill
(Oxford University Press USA, 2010, J04PP)
978-0199569847, $27·95
decades under three different regimes:
READ THIS BOOK WITH PLEASURE,
1973 during Emperor Haile Selassie's
twice in as many weeks. It is the
recent history of Ethiopia,
its
time, 1984 under a brutal military dictastruggle with an enduring chaltorship and 2008 under the current govlenge to feed its people, its relationernment. Hundreds
of thousands of
men, women and chilship with the outside
world, the generosity of
dren died, millions were
people wherever they are
displaced and, as a result,
FAMINE &
and the dirty games of
two regimes have fallen.
FOREIGNERS
politics. It is a detailed
Whether we have learned
account
of what the
the lessons of these failETHIOPIA
country went through in
ures remains to be seen,
SINCE
the last four decades,
although the last drought,
LIVE AID
where it is now and
which touched more than
where it is going. It is a
13 million people, ended
with fewer deaths than
refreshing reminder of
the previous two.
the tremendous journey
accomplished
but also
The description of the
the even more tremeninternational response to
dous travel ahead.
the droughts
is quite
Peter Gill loves Ethiinteresting. It shows how
opia; there is no doubt about it. He
western
governments
respond
to
.knows the country more than most of us humanitarian
emergencies
and what
Ethiopians do. He traveled extensively
really makes them tick. In 1973, what
triggered the worldwide response was
in places that are perceived to be no-go
areas, and he met Ethiopians of all walks
the projection of skeletal children on
of life: from the top leaders to local
television, and in 1984 it was the involveadministrators,
peasants, intellectuals
ment of high profile
individuals
singers, actors and other
and opposition figures. This book is an including
activists. In 2008 it was the threat of a
account of what they have to say, their
hopes and aspirations,
their fears
friendly government destabilizing in an
and doubts.
era of international
terrorism.
In all
Ethiopia went through three major
cases, saving human lives is secondary
droughts and famines in the last three
to geopolitical
considerations.
One
wonders how many children could have
been saved if, in 1984, UK Prime Min-
ister Margaret Thatcher and US President Ronald Reagan had responded
rapidly to an impending catastrophe
that they knew was coming.
Obviously we can't blame the outside
world for all our woes. The famines that
afflicted the country in the last several
decades are the result of an extended
drought-but
only partially. The situation was aggravated by prolonged civil
strife, repressive regimes and lack of innovation in the agricultural sector. Unless
we address these issues head-on, our fate
will remain in the hands of foreigners and
our independence and sovereignty will be
forever compromised. The current government, which made agricultural devel-'
opment its top priority, is trying to
address some of the underlying causes of
the problem. But with an ever-decreasing
plot of land to cultivate, it is difficult to
see how we can get out of the developmental quagmire in which we find ourselves. Ethiopia still has 85 percent of its
population engaged in agriculture and
most of them live in areas that are inaccessible most of the time. This situation
raises the question of marketing when we
have a bumper harvest and distribution
when we face drought. While Gill asserts
that the situation has improved dramatically in recent years, improvement is not
resolution. And no one can say today what
will be the consequences
of another
severe drought, which, I believe, is inevitable sooner or later.
T
HIs
BRINGS
us
TO THE
ISSUE
OF
population growth, which is core
to the many developmental challenges that we face in the country.
Between 1973 and 20IO, the population
of Ethiopia has increased almost threefold (from less than 30 million to almost
85 million today). Most of the population
lives in the highlands where agricultural
land is scarce, deforestation
and soil
erosion are recurring problems and
public services are difficult to reach due
to the topography of the region. As a
result, family planning services reach
only a third of the population, although
another third would like to space or stop
childhearing-.
Primary
educltion
is
reaching- more and Illore young- peopk
but acccss to second:lry
and tertiary
education is stililinliled
10 the privileg-ed
few. As a result, thc population continucs
to grow hy IIHlre Ih:ln 2.2 Illillion pl'opk
every year.
Indeed, tlw cotlllll')' ha.s Ill:1lIr 1'<:lna1'1\able progn:ss int he I:lsi dn'adl' in hringing'
he:llth, t:ducut ion :lnd inl'rasll'IIc't III'C 10
the rur:l! pOlllllation, '(illlay, l'nrOlllllcnl
in prilllary l,dllc'llliclil i.s lJII:lsi-IInivers:l!;
more thall 1~,0l1n ll':lincd yOUllg- girls
are deplo)'c·d t hl'ollg-holll fhe country
providing Iliisic' hl':llth services and there
are new 1'111'111 I'llud nl'l works t hilt connect
the :lgril'ldllll'lIl
Sc'c'lol' wil h potenfial
litlle- allell1pttocxplain
the root causes
or the prohlcills
we arc facing. Howl:ver, Ie II' SOllll:OIll: who wants to undersl:lnd what thl: country
went through
ill 1he last .10 years,
how different
regimes
dealt with the same prohlem
and how the international
community
reacted at different
times to the S:\llll:
problem,
this book is an excellent
source of information
.•
Bookshelf
Control and Sexuality:
The Revival of lina Laws in Muslim Contexts
Ziba Mir-Hosseini and Vanja Hamzic (The Russell Press, 2010, 235PP)
This book, a collaboration between the Violence is Not Our Culture campaign
and Women Living Under Muslim Laws, explores the rise of zina laws (laws
regarding sexual intercourse between unmarried people) in Muslim cultures