Millions need food as Ethiopia struggles to survive drought

Ethiopia’s worst drought in 50 years is striking hard as farmers battle with dried water holes, wilted crops, and dead livestock.

Other sectors of the Ethiopian economy are feeling the wrath, too. More than 8 million people need food support in the coming years, according to the United Nations.

Ethiopia’s struggle began with a poor rainy season in March. The lack of rainfall resulted from El Niño, a periodic warming of the Pacific Ocean that affects worldwide weather systems.

In the eastern agricultural region, crop production declined significantly with some areas experiencing 50 to 90 percent crop loss, according to a UN report. Northern pastoral cattle herders also started to lose their livestock.

“Normally, pasture comes back during the rainy season, but didn’t come back as much” said Chris Hillbruner with the Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET). “Animals had to start traveling long distances to find water and to find pasture.”

The country’s struggle with the drought starkly opposes its recent history of economic success. The International Monetary Fund ranks Ethiopia as one of the five fastest growing economies in the world. But in a landlocked country where subsistent agriculture employs nearly 80 percent of the population, rainfall is a necessity.

“People end up having less in terms of their own produced food, they have less money to buy food, and the prices they’re facing are higher than average,” Hillbruner said.

In 2005, the Ethiopian government helped start the Productive Safety Net Program. The program advocates for self-sufficiency. Nearly 6 billion people worked on public projects in return for food or cash. Last year, the government committed an unprecedented $192 million toward providing food during the drought.

Still, the lack of preventive measures is evident. In 2011, Ethiopia faced a less threatening but still impactful famine.

“That was a reminder to Ethiopia and to the government that Ethiopia is still vulnerable to food insecurity,” said Ahmed Soliman, a research associate in the Africa Program at Chatham House.

FEWS NET forecasts a relatively good rainfall next summer. The impact of the last bad harvest is expected to peak this summer, with nearly 15 million people in need of food.