Horn of Africa Drought | Development and Peace

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The situation

The Horn of Africa, which includes Ethiopia, Somalia, Djibouti, Eritrea and the border near Kenya, is an arid region that is highly susceptible to drought. Although in the past, the region had the capacity to cope with occasional droughts, in recent years the region has become increasingly vulnerable due to consecutively poor rainy seasons, constantly rising food prices, changing agricultural practices and poor land management.

With another failed rainy season, the region is now experiencing the worst drought it has seen in 60 years and it has created an escalating humanitarian crisis. An estimated 11.5 million people are now vulnerable to food and water shortages as crops are unable to grow, livestock are rapidly dying and food is inaccessible due to high costs.

The situation in Somalia is particularly dire due to conflict and insecurity in the country. The United Nations has declared famine in two parts of Southern Somalia (southern Bakool and Lower Shabelle) and a quarter of the population is displaced. Thousands of Somalis are making a treacherous trek to attempt to reach aid camps in Kenya and Ethiopia, with over 1,200 Somalis arriving daily at a camp in Kenya, and 2,000 arriving daily at a camp in Ethiopia. Nearly 50% of all children arriving at the camps are suffering the effects of malnutrition and mortality rates are on the rise.

The situation is expected to worsen if expected rains in October are weak or do not come.


	Water, please! February 12, 2012 Following the 2011 drought, Caritas Kenya launched an emergency appeal for 14 of the country's 25 dioceses. Over the past four days, I have visited projects in three of those dioceses. Read more here
	Emergency relief and the media February 7, 2012 "The media have prevented humanitarian organizations from being strategic." The judgment is harsh. It is from Overtoun Omgezulu, regional emergency relief coordinator for the Horn of Africa at Trocaire. He saw the media parade through the region during the summer of 2011. Media pressure forced the organizations to spend money quickly so as to justify the use of the funds sent in. Otherwise, they were afraid that they would face accusations by the public. Read more here
	Karibu! February 6, 2012 I knew Nairobi for having passed through it, many times, when I was heading for Rwanda or Burundi. I always stayed downtown, just for a night, before taking off again. I’ve been in town for just 24 hours but this time the situation is different. I’m staying outside the city, in the Westlands district, 15 minutes from downtown at the All Africa Council of Churches. It's an upscale neighbourhood, far away from the monster downtown traffic jams. What do I mean by monster? At rush hour—meaning anytime between 8 AM and 7 PM—a 15-minute trip can take two hours! Read more here
	Here we go again! February 5, 2012 By the time you read this, I'll already be in Kenya. This mission is a follow-up to our activities in the drought-stricken Horn of Africa. Last November, we visited Ethiopia. At the time, I was traveling with Kelly Di Domenico, Communications Officer, and Danielle Gobeil, Deputy Director of the International Programs Department. Sad to say, this time I'll be traveling alone. Read more here
	A video of Caritas in action during the food crisis in Kenya January 10, 2012 Last May 30th, the government of Kenya declared a national disaster in response to a drought that was taking hold in the country. The situation became catastrophic, when in addition, refugees from Somalia began to stream across the border into the country. Read more here

Last day in Djibouti

Stepping off the plane in Djibouti, the heat smacks hard and the salty smell of the sea fills the air. It is much hotter here than in Ethiopia, where the high altitude makes the strong African sun more bearable. Djibouti was the last stop on our trip and we went there to meet with Bishop Giorgio Bertin, who is Bishop of Djibouti and Apostolic Administrator of Mogadishu, Somalia, as well as the President of both Caritas Somalia and Caritas Djibouti.

Djibouti is a tiny country. Shaped like a hoof, it is positioned where the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden meet, directly across from Yemen. There are only 800,000 people in the country, and of this number two-thirds live in the main city of Djibouti, which has become an important port town for the shipment of goods to landlocked Ethiopia.

The port dominates the activities of the city, attracting migrants from rural areas and refugees, who seem to live in clusters of makeshift shelters along the margins of the city. Despite its small size there are still many needs in Djibouti, including some created by the drought. Bishop Bertin energetically explains some of the issues here: the struggle for water and failing crops in the rural areas, and the city which carries its own struggles of poverty and migration. Caritas Djibouti is responding how it can.

We visited a literacy centre where many street and refugee children are being given the opportunity to learn how to read, and potentially continue with their education by integrating into the school system. With a small staff on hand, and many volunteers, Caritas Djibouti also runs health clinics and other programs for street children. Spending the day with Bishop Bertin is a privilege. He spent many years working in Somalia before the fall of the previous regime in the 1990s, and although he has not been able to return to the country in many years, it is clear that his heart is still very much with the people there. He recently made an arduous journey with staff members of Caritas Ethiopia to a remote Southern region of Ethiopia where thousands of Somalis have taken refuge from the famine and conflict in their country, to tend to his people firsthand.

Ending our visit with Bishop Bertin was another reminder of the all the tireless efforts taking place around the Horn of Africa, not only in response to the current drought, but as an extensive web of solidarity that is working to bring an end to hunger and poverty here. It seems to be such a long road, but one where fatigue is not even an option. And if there is one message that everyone we met left us with, it is this: that without a commitment towards development, emergencies like this one will simply continue to be repeated.

Kelly Di Domenico writes from Ethiopia

November 29, 2011

Reaching the most vulnerable

After more than 10 days in Ethiopia and visiting many corners of the country, I am taken by the extent of the work of the Catholic Church here. There may not be a very large Catholic population in Ethiopia (0.7%) yet the magnitude of what is being done by the Church is impressive. There is a true dedication to serve the poor and marginalized that seems unwavering. Each diocese has its own Catholic Secretariat, which runs a plethora of programs that address a wide range of issues: health, nutrition, education, gender, food security, water and sanitation, and the list goes on. There are also many religious communities present here, and often they are the only ones to venture into remote areas to work with some of the most vulnerable groups here, such as the pastoralists who roam in some of the most inaccessible regions, and refugees, who are crossing from nearly all sides into Ethiopia, including Somalis in the Southeast, Eritreans in the North and Sudanese in the West.

We often heard about the Missionary Sisters of Charity, the congregation founded by Mother Theresa, who are particularly present here. They are toiling away in some of the most remote parts of the country, where no one else will dare go, to bring some relief to communities that have been terribly affected by this drought. In the diocese of Hosanna, we also met Sister Celine, an Indian sister from another congregation, who has been in Ethiopia for 20 years running one of the best health clinics in the region. She is a firecracker of energy as she takes us through the clinic, which offers wide range of services, including the treatment of nutrition. In one room, there are at least 40 people waiting to receive some form of medical help, but as Sister Celine walks through, she brings with her a comforting presence that emanates from her large smile and lively demeanor. As we pass a man on a stretcher, she softly awakens him into consciousness, a gentle reminder that life is worth living. Over the last few months, the malnutrition unit has seen many cases, and depending on the severity of the case, each case can take 2 weeks to 3 months to treat properly. Thankfully, the clinic has space for patients to stay on a long-term basis to recuperate, and with Sister Celine at the helm, there is no doubt that only the best care will be administered. It is hard to imagine what would happen to these many affected if those like Sister Celine or the diocesan Catholic Secretariats didn’t exist. Mother Theresa said, "The miracle is not that we do this work, but that we are happy to do it," and the evidence of this is potent here in Ethiopia, where everyone I have met from the many coordinators at the Catholic secretariats, to the Missionary Sisters of Charity, to some very dedicated Comboni missionaries and the many priests and Bishops around the country, respond to the needs of the poor without question, without complaint and with some of the warmest smiles I have ever seen.

Sister Celine
Photo : Neal Deles/Caritas Ethiopia

People waiting at he clinic

Father and son at the clinic

Kelly Di Domenico writes from Ethiopia

November 28, 2011

The importance of livestock

We have been in the warm and welcoming company of the Harar Catholic Secretariat the last few days. In Ethiopia, there is always reference to the highlands and the lowlands. The lowlands are the deep valleys that wind their way through the many mountain chains here, while the highlands encompass the villages that crawl up towards the peaks. We are heading to the highlands today, climbing higher and higher along the way. The arid air gives little life to the land. The terraced slopes look dry and sparse. There are many fields of sorghum whose long stems and big buds look healthy, but just as often, the view is of vast fields of maize, completely dry and brittle, the yellow stalks looking lifeless, while the sleeves stand completely bare of any fruit. It is a telling image of the realities of life here. Challenges are ubiquitous, and just as one crop might thrive another will fail and wither. In times of drought, these challenges seem to pile on to one another. Many in the region we are visiting today have lost livestock, a vital part of a family’s livelihood. This includes goats, sheep, oxen and donkeys. The importance of livestock is in stark evidence in Ethiopia. It’s impossible to drive 100 feet without seeing some goats munching along the hillside. And even in Addis, people herd oxen across the street, slowly circumventing oncoming cars, and donkeys waddle along with huge bags strapped across their backs.

The Harar Secretariat has set up a livestock re-stocking program to buffer some of the losses. Vouchers are distributed to those who have been identified as the most vulnerable, and they can then use them to purchase livestock. We are at one of the markets where this activity is being organized. There are sheep of all different sizes and there is some serious bargaining taking place. A pregnant sheep will sell more than a baby, but it all depends what will best serve the purpose of the purchaser and this is one of the advantages of a program like this one - it gives people the freedom and power to choose their own livestock and negotiate the price. It also injects money back into the local economy, as all the vendors will trade in the vouchers for cash. One woman, who has eight children, lost two cows from the drought. With her vouchers she has purchased a sheep, but also a scythe and spade with the vouchers she had left over from bargaining. She will be able to breed her sheep and eventually have more. Today, there are 50 people receiving vouchers, however, the Harar Secretariat plans to extend the program to 1,500 people. It may not replace all the losses that people have suffered here, but at least it is a start.

Kelly Di Domenico writes from Ethiopia

November 26, 2011

Filling the gaps

Even in a time like November, when the crops are being harvested, there are still some who face food shortages here. For female-headed households, widows and those whose crops simply did not take, they are confronted by circumstances that make the struggle to keep their families fed all the more difficult. This is where Caritas Ethiopia can play an important role in helping the vulnerable. Each diocese in Ethiopia has a local Catholic Secretariat that is implementing social and development programs, and helping to respond to the recurring droughts that keep affecting the country. Their presence in many regions and the fact that they are a local organization seems to provide a sense of trust with the community.

We saw this in action when we visited a food distribution centre in the diocese of Hosanna in the southwestern part of the country. The centre is located in the middle of a quiet rural zone that is reached by dirt roads. Its rural position makes it easier to reach, as all those who need to access it travel by foot. Distances are relative here. A short distance is the six to seven kms that it takes people to reach the centre.

A small line of about 20 women has formed outside the centre, but over the course of the day, over 220 people will receive a type of powdery flour that is fortified and that they can use to cook. Each person will receive nine kilos that is meant to last their families for the next month. One of the women in line tells me that she has seven children, ranging in ages from one year to 15. She is tiny, with a shy, young face that does not hint at the large family she must support. This year, the teff, which is a grain used to make a flat porous pancake-like bread that is very popular here, that her and her husband planted did not flower. Her husband works occasionally, perhaps twice a week, making 5 birr in a day or the equivalent of approximately $0.30 cdn. Inside the centre, the distribution has started. Women open the large bags they have carried with them, and in which the measured flour is loaded. Their tiny frames hide an incredible strength. With hardly any strain, they throw the bags across their shoulders and begin their journey home on foot.

Women waiting for food distribution

Food distribution

Hut

Kelly Di Domenico writes from Ethiopia

November 23, 2011

Thinking of today and tomorrow

Walking through a rocky valley of the Tigray region in the northern part of Ethiopia, each footstep launches a cloud of dust into the air. This region, which is close to the Eritrean border, is one of the most affected by the recent food crisis. Even now, after some rain arrived at the end of August, as you walk deeper into the valley, you can’t help but notice that the cisterns are already dry and the fields are wilted.

This part of Ethiopia is nearly always on the edge of hunger, so when rains don’t arrive or are in poor quantities, it can be disastrous. People find themselves not only without food from their harvests, they are also left with no income to buy food. The regional diocesan branch of the Ethiopian Catholic Secretariat (Caritas Ethiopia) has been putting in place projects to help communities cope with this insufficiency. We are walking deep into the mountains of Tigray to the site of a cash-for-work program. There is the quiet of pastoral life in the air – a few cattle grazing, the laughter of children playing, the crackle of people’s feet under the dry grass as they walk with umbrellas to shade themselves from the sun – but these tranquil noises are soon punctuated by a burst of activity in front of us. Over 40 people are working away to build a check dam. Men and women are busy excavating the rock ledge, hauling stones, shoveling a trench and building the wall.

The dam will serve to hold water when there is rain. As Sebhatu, the Development and Social Coordinator at the diocesan office explains, with emergency projects there is always an attempt to link emergency with development. In this case, in the immediate people work for a few weeks and get paid, which allows them to purchase food, and at the same time they are building a dam, which will hopefully allow the community to have longer access to water in the future. There are 45 such projects around the diocese of Adigrat. Men and women work alongside each other at the site. The women wear long skirts, with traditional scarves wrapped around their heads to cover their hair, yet they too carry pick axes and chip away at the rock.

For Birhane, 36, this project has been a blessing. She has four teenagers to support and says that private construction companies would never consider hiring women to work. "They think that women can’t perform. This is tough work but it is the only work that is available, and I appreciate that I can do it. At least, now we can purchase some grains."

Birhane

Cash for work

Tigray

Kelly Di Domenico writes from Ethiopia

November 22, 2011

Nothing but Rock

It is hard to imagine that 80% of the population in Ethiopia relies on agriculture for its sustenance, when on your way to Adigrat in the far North of the country. Leaving Addis by plane, below there is a mosaic of greens that swath the landscape. It doesn’t take long, however, for these small pastures to be replaced by rising mountains of rock. The landscape looks remote and inhospitable. The mountains rise like tables rather than peaks, and there is not a hint of vegetation. Views from the air can be deceiving and surely there is more to the landscape than these imposing rocks.

Yet, even after we have landed and begin to drive along the road, the rocks remain. There are there along our sides, rising for miles and miles with their flat tops that touch the sky. I have rarely seen such barrenness. An occasional stunted tree manages to lift itself from the faded yellow grass. Everything seems yellow and grey yet with the contrast of the blue sky there is a stark beauty in the jutting walls of rock where in the shifting shadows of the sun there are faces that appear and disappear.

It is hardly imaginable that anything could be harvested here, let alone that there is life. Yet, as we make our way along the road, there is life everywhere. Stone houses seem to grow out of the rocky plains and silhouettes of people appear out of nowhere in the distance. Perhaps, there are hidden valleys around the bend, where there is the possibility for food to grow? It is hard to say from this perspective what is beyond all that rock, but certainly the impression it leaves is one where life as fragile as trying to make your away across the stony paths ahead.

Rock

Kelly Di Domenico's writes from Ethiopia

November 19, 2011

Welcome to Ethiopia

In many ways, my Ethiopian journey began this summer when ongoing drought conditions pushed many communities in the Horn of Africa into a food crisis. Unlike Somalia, famine was not declared in Ethiopia, yet it is the country with the most number of people affected by this crisis - approximately 4.5 million. As the situation unfolded in early July and the media reports started appearing, we began to receive phone calls from people wanting to help. Many of the people that I spoke had been transported back to the 1980s, when scenes from the devastating famine that struck Ethiopia blazed across our televisions screens. Those images were some of the first of Africa to be seared into our collective memory. And when I spoke with people, there was concern and disbelief that this could be happening again, and it was clear that it was a moment that still haunted many.

I am carrying these concerns with me as we travel to the Ethiopia. I keep wondering what does food insecurity like, what does it mean, can it be solved? Travelling through the streets of the capital Addis Ababa, I am taken by all the vibrant colours of fabrics worn by women, the bustle on the streets, the sting of the diesel on the senses, and the half-constructed buildings that dot the sides of the road. From my hotel, I can see the sun bursting off the tin roofs of the small shops that sell all sorts things, including food. There are small cafes and restaurants here and there. But I need to remind myself that the story of the city is different from that of the millions who live in rural communities. I suppose I will soon find out that other story, the one that lives beyond the emerging city, and hopefully begin to understand what this summer seemed so inconceivable.

November 6, 2011

Ethiopia: Gilio Brunelli's blog

Gilio Brunelli, Director of International Programs at Development and Peace, was recently in Ethiopia to assess the food security of communities that have been impacted by ongoing drought-like conditions in the country. Changing weather patterns and inflated food costs have made it increasingly difficult for rural communities to have access to sufficient food and their livelihoods continue to be severely impacted by this situation. Here are his impressions.

November 16, 2011

Here I am at the end of my travel log. At this time tomorrow, I’ll be on an airplane.

It's cold today in Addis Ababa. Though situated in a tropical zone, the city sits at an altitude of 2400 metres, nestled between mountains with peaks of up to 4000 metres. Passers-by hurry to cross over to the sunny side of the street. Winter is quickly approaching. Will it snow this year?

Our mission is coming to an end. The members of the delegation have already moved onto other matters: Sam will soon return home to Canada for a minor surgery, Bruce will spend another week visiting projects in the South of the country, Grant will continue his trip onto Harare, in Zimbabwe, Jaqueline will be going back to Kampala with a few stops in Nairobi and elsewhere to accompany another delegation coming from Switzerland. Jillian is headed for the refugee camps in Kenya and I am on my way to London and then Montreal where a number of other files await me as well. Sooner or later, we’ll meet again on the path of Solidarity but at this time, we look to our parting with some sadness. For the past two weeks we have spent every one of our days together.

What have we learned? In less than three weeks, our final report will be tabled at the meeting of the Board of Directors of the Canadian Foodgrains Bank. In it, we’ll put forward our comments and recommendations regarding the future direction of food aid. But if we must share one lesson with all of you, it’s the following: Famine is not a given; famine is not an explanation in itself; on the contrary, famine is a very dynamic process by which ecological circumstances, meteorological phenomena and technology are reinterpreted according to a set of political choices and ambitious strategic interests.

The government of Ethiopia has set a goal to become self-sufficient for food in the next five years, and move the country into the range of medium human development by 2025. These are very commendable objectives, if ever there were any, but no-one – except their spokespeople believe these goals to be achievable. In the meantime, nevertheless, they may determine the fate of millions of poor peasants and herders more than any "Regime of rainfall" ever could.

November 15, 2011

Teanastellen (Hello), says the receptionist at the World Food Program office as we enter the modest building in downtown Addis-Ababa. From the outside, one would never imagine that roughly 600 million dollars per year are spent out of this office in relief, social services and development operations across the country. It is the single biggest WFP on-going program in the world. Massive is the only word which can barely describe their effort. About 20 million people, we are told, receive some form of food aid every year, more than 7 million of them from the WFP!

In the afternoon we meet the CIDA country director and the food security specialist at the Canadian embassy. Way more modest than the WFP's, Canada's commitment to food security in Ethiopia is nonetheless well organized and adequately funded. The total amount spent by CIDA in Ethiopia in 2009-10 was about 164 million dollars, a significant portion of which was allocated out of the Addis office. And there is no doubt whatsoever that the largest portion of this money is spent on agricultural support and development, in one form or another.

As I was writing yesterday, agriculture is big in Ethiopia. And it has to be, when one thinks that 84% of the 82 million inhabitants of this country live in rural areas, and that the present government wants them to stay there. Most of the present thinking in government circles envisions the development of the country as, and I quote, "agricultural-led modernization". And still, significant numbers of people living in rural areas are not farmers. The often neglected face of poverty and famine in Ethiopia are the pastoralists, herders of cattle, camels, sheep, goats, and donkeys, who are making the most of otherwise neglected marginal lands. Estimated at about 15% of the population, they are contributing about 40% of the agricultural gross domestic product of Ethiopia. No major support program exists for them on the government side. They see their herds starve and die, most of the time powerless. If they want help, so goes the official explanation, they have to settle down and become agriculturalists. So much for democracy!

Our mission is coming to an end. Two days and it will be over. Thursday afternoon we will put together the first draft of our report to the board of the Canadian Foodgrains Bank. Tomorrow I will send my last report from the field.

November 14, 2011

Did you know that Ethiopia has hundreds of thousands of landless peasants? Hard to believe and understand in a country where, as a result of its recent past, access to land is strictly regulated by the State through local committees that reach into even the remotest village! A program still exists to settle 440,000 rural families (counting an average of five persons per family) on unoccupied land. Moreover, everyone here agrees that there are a lot more landless people than the families registered in the program. Finally, there is no doubt that the landless rural dwellers are even poorer and needier than the poor farmers (who do, at least, have a little bit of land).

This information has emerged out of the several meetings held today, right here in Addis Ababa with NGOs and Ethiopian government agencies. It's incredible to see the money, plans and good intentions from everyone here at this huge work in progress that is aimed at improving the country's agricultural development. It is also difficult to understand why the farmers themselves are not sitting at the table where key decisions are being made that will affect their future. Unfortunately, their absence is also conspicuous in the decisions of certain large NGOs. Moreover, many stakeholders seem to be involved in the activity of manipulating statistics, either to show that there are a lot of poor farmers in Ethiopia so they can ask for more money to help them or else to show that the numbers of poor farmers are decreasing as a result of these assistance programs, so they are asking for more money so they can continue their work. For example, it has already been established that within three years, two million poor people will have acquired the means to support themselves autonomously, no matter what might happen in this period: drought, skyrocketing prices, crop failure, whatever!

The world of international development is not always a shining beacon. So I prefer to think about the woman I encountered in Amhara country the day before yesterday. Along with her husband and three children, she planted some one hundred apple trees (apples sell for $1 each). Then she used the income from the apples to lease an adjacent plot of land where she planted more apple trees and vegetables; built beehives to raise bees that will produce honey, something that is always in demand as it is needed to prepare the national drink, tej; and built a poultry house and farmyard that will provide eggs and meat. In a thousand and one ways she has refused to be confined within the cycle of poverty and the aid programs that would keep her there. She is living proof that poverty and misery are not normal living conditions, not even in Ethiopia!

November 13, 2011

I am back in the Internet zone and full of stories.

We have spent the last few days in Amhara country (central Ethiopia) about 600 km north of Addis Ababa. We travelled by road from one village to the next, stopping here and there to talk to small-scale farmers and visit theirs plots. All of them live below the poverty line and experience very serious problems to feed their families year around. We are talking about several million people.

Yet, the fields are beautiful and plenty. It is now harvesting time for wheat and other cereals, and the fields are covered by yellow stalks ready to be harvested. Livestock (cows, goats, sheep, donkeys,) graze everywhere and we had to stop all the time because they cross the road when they please, not at all concerned by our incoming cars. Then where is the problem?

The problems are many. The first one is that the size of the property is too small, about half an hectare per family. Not enough to be viable no matter how hard the peasants work and how much the soil produces. Second, the prices for most traditional crops are ridiculously low. A quintal (100 kg) of wheat is sold for 1000 birrs, 1200 at the most. This is the equivalent of $50-60 CDN. Other cereals, corn, sorghum, teff, fetch much less, etc., etc.

Particularly difficult for these peasant families, is the period between planting and harvesting, when there is no food, not even seeds, available. This is called "food gap". In French this period is often referred to as "soudure". No food is then available. The little money saved from the harvest is quickly spent as food prices go up. Soon, one after the other, the animals are sold. Whatever few other items the family owns are likewise sold and then… undernourishment, starvation, begging, migration toward food distribution centers, when and where available. And the family finds itself in the poverty cycle, if they manage to survive at all.

How many such stories we heard.

But some of them fight back. I will tell you everything tomorrow because now I am going to bed.

November 7, 2011

Today, I visited with the Ethiopia Catholic Secretariat (ECS), which is also Caritas Ethiopia.

The ECS is working in five dioceses where it is supporting about 70,000 families affected by the present food insecurity situation. The organization is already involved in making food aid evolve into food assistance (a direction set in the 2008-2013 strategic planning of the World Food Programme). The average family farm measures between 0.5 and 1.5 hectares. Ethiopian agriculture still relies on rains, while huge reservoirs of underground water remain, well, underground.

The most drought-prone areas in the country lay in the East and the North. There is an overall and rarely questioned assumption that most of Ethiopia is a "naturally" drought-prone area. Yet, when one thinks about the fact that Israel receives much less rain than Ethiopia on an annual basis, the "naturally" has to be challenged, says one of our good friends from the ECS.

Food security is but one line of work for the organization. It also works on gender and development, with abandoned children, with people living with HIV, and more. It operates or supports schools and health facilities throughout the country via local dioceses and religious communities. Even though the 700,000 Catholics in Ethiopia account for less than 1% of the entire population (approx. 80 million), the Catholic Church, mostly via the ECS, comes only second to the government in terms of providing education, health, relief, shelter to youth, vocational training for women...

And how does the ECS explain that? Given the identification of Jesus with the poor (common for all Christians) and the wealth of Catholic social teaching (specific to Catholics), Catholics have no choice but to engage in social work.

November 6, 2011

I’ve arrived safely in Addis Ababa, capital of Ethiopia. The city is 6,000 feet above sea level, and has 4 to 7 million inhabitants, depending on the taxi driver one talks to!

Ranked 174 out of 187 countries in the recently released 2011 Human Development Report by the UNDP, Ethiopia has about 80 million people, of which 40% live below poverty line.

About 15-20 Canadian NGOs (it depends on the year) are active in Ethiopia on a more or less regular basis. Canada (including CIDA, NGOs, churches, universities, unions, etc.) is among the top 10 countries providing aid to Ethiopia in terms of overall development. When only food aid and food security are considered, Canada ranks amongst the top 3.

Ethiopia is the third biggest recipient of Canadian ODA (Official Development Assistance), right after Haiti and Afghanistan, and is the biggest African recipient by far.

Regarding the situation on food security, two days of unexpected rains (it NEVER rains in November) across the country, from North to South, have actually put the upcoming harvest in danger. At this time of the year, sun is necessary to dry up the fields of teff (a local cereal that is ground into flour and used to prepare injera, a type of flatbread that most Ethiopians consider their national dish), wheat, maize and sorghum. The rain makes the leaves turn downward and the grains spill onto the soil. Then they become lost.

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	Development and Peace raises over $6 million October 11, 2011 Development and Peace has raised $6.3 million for humanitarian aid for the Horn of Africa, which is currently experiencing the worst drought in the region in 60 years... Read more here
Photo courtesy David Snyder/Caritas	Drought-affected Ethiopians receiving much-needed aid September 7, 2011 Ethiopia is currently hosting thousands of Somali refugees that are fleeing famine and conflict in their own country, but in addition many Ethiopian communities suffering devastating impacts from the drought that is currently affecting the Horn of Africa and can’t be forgotten. Read more here
	Development and Peace supports emergency aid in Kenya August 26, 2011 Caritas Kenya will be providing food and water to 30, 420 families living in the most drought-affected parts of the country over the next six months. This far-reaching emergency relief program, which will help over 180,000 people, will cost a total of $5.6 million. Development and Peace, which is the Canadian member of the Caritas Internationalis federation, is contributing $350,000 to this humanitarian assistance. Read more here
	Making a difference in the Horn of Africa July 28, 2011 The current food crisis in the Horn of Africa is one that has been slowly building over the last few years. Several factors have made it increasingly difficult for the people of the region to have access to sufficient food. After nearly three consecutive years of poor rains and drought conditions, people have been suffering from chronic hunger, as they try to cope. The fragility of life has been rendered all the more precarious by rising food costs and conflict, particularly as livelihoods are destroyed by ruined crops and dying cattle. Read more here
	Canadian Government will match donations for Horn of Africa July 27, 2011 The Canadian Government announced on Friday, July 22nd, that it will match dollar for dollar donations made between July 6th and September 16th for the humanitarian crisis in the Horn of Africa. Development and Peace is eligible to have contributions made by its donors matched through this program. Read more here
	Drought in the Horn of Africa puts 10 million at risk: Development and Peace prepared to help July 14, 2011 The worst drought to impact the Horn of Africa in 60 years has put an estimated 10 million people at risk of severe food shortages and famine. Development and Peace is closely monitoring the situation and will support the people in the region as they face this rapidly escalating humanitarian crisis. Read more here

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Tabs

Last day in Djibouti

Reaching the most vulnerable

The importance of livestock

Filling the gaps

Thinking of today and tomorrow

Nothing but Rock

Welcome to Ethiopia

Ethiopia: Gilio Brunelli's blog

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