Food Insecurity: Ethiopia

Eric Zhan
Food security is, according to the FAO, when all people, at all times, have access to sufficient, safe, and nutritious food to meet their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life. Food security is characterized by three factors: Availability, accessibility, and affordability. In Ethiopia, there is not enough food available for everyone, there is a lack of adequate infrastructure for food to be accessible to everyone, and the poverty certainly causes many people to be unable to afford food. Thus, Ethiopia is experiencing high levels of food insecurity. As the average daily energy intake is 1 estimated at 16 to 20 percent below the accepted minimum, and malnutrition affects up to 30% of the population, a lack of food has been a problem for many people. Food insecurity in Ethiopia, in the past thirty years, has developed many times into full-blown famines. In this study, food insecurity in Ethiopia will be analyzed with the focus on the three factors. th War can be one of the major causes of food insecurity. As Ethiopia has experienced in the 20 century, war can greatly block trade that is vital and make food inaccessible to the general public. However, As Ethiopia moved towards peace in the 1990s, food insecurity remained a major problem. Therefore, there are other major reasons for the lack of food. Agriculture is very important in Ethiopia. The sector accounts for 47% of the GDP, 60% of all exports, 2 and 80% of employment . One might wonder that if so many people are devoted to agriculture, why 3 does Ethiopia still experience food insecurity? With 40% of the population below the poverty line, food becomes unaffordable. Thats why most people use traditional, subsistent farming methods with little technology to produce for their own consumption. However, this kind of farming does not produce enough food, so farmers are dependent on yearly crop yields. As Ethiopia experiences highly erratic rainfalls, it is prone to annual droughts and intraseasonal dry spells. These droughts can greatly reduce the crop yield and the food available. 4 In times of crop failure, the government cannot do much due to a lack of money. With a GDP per 5 capita of $1000 , even if there is enough food produced, which there isnt, the government cannot buy the food and redistribute so people can access it. Many NGOs realize this problem and send food and capital aid to Ethiopia for distribution. But due to inadequate infrastructure, the food is unable to reach many areas, which makes it inaccessible. As shown by the map on the left, rural regions are mostly insecure due to a lack of accessibility and poor infrastructure. To make things worse, the population of 6 Ethiopia is growing at a rate of 3.2% , which is one of the fastest in the world. The increasing population means a greater demand for food, therefore, the food production is having trouble keeping up with the demand and make food available to everyone. Food insecurity is a major obstacle for economic development. Between the 1980 and 1987 agricultural production dropped at an annual rate of 2.1 percent, while the population grew at an annual rate of 2.4 percent. Consequently, the 7 country faced a tragic famine that resulted in the death of nearly 1 million people . The famine depleted peoples assets greatly and in 2002, another famine struck. This time About 6 million people
1 2

Data from: http://www.fao.org/ag/magazine/0602sp2.htm Data obtained from: http://cip.cornell.edu/dns.gfs/1200428184 3 Data from: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/et.html 4 Map from: http://www.ethiosun.com/hunger-stalks-ethiopia-once-again-despite-meless-gdp-calculation/ 5 Data from: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/et.html 6 Data from: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/et.html 7 Data from The World Bank

were in need of urgent food aid, and 15 million faced the threat of starvation. As a result, in January 2003, there was a 21% decrease in food 8 production and 85% food price increase . These famines cause much turmoil in Ethiopia and directly rob money from the country. Not only that, they cause lead to health problems that indirectly affect the economy. With 42% of all babies 9 underweight and 12% wasted , the country losses much of its potential work force, which saps its economy. In recent years, Ethiopia has been recovering from the famines and slowly improving its food conditions with the combined efforts of aid from NGOs, land reform policies, market integration and price stabilization, improved irrigation and bigger investments in agriculture. Ethiopias 10 annual agriculture growth reached 7.5% in 2008 , and the increase in import, as shown by the picture on the left, has lessened the stress of food in the country. However, the improvements also come with a price. As shown by the second figure on the right, Ethiopias public debt has generally grown. Charts from: The World Bank: Ethiopia at a Glance Ethiopia is slowly improving its food conditions, but it has a long way to go before people can feel secure about food. Bibliography
"CIA - The World Factbook." Welcome to the CIA Web Site Central Intelligence Agency. Web. 27 Feb. 2011. <https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/et.html>. "Ethiopia - Data & Statistics." World Bank Group. Web. 27 Feb. 2011. <http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/COUNTRIES/AFRICAEXT/ETHIOPIAEXTN/0,,menuPK:295955~page PK:141132~piPK:141109~theSitePK:295930,00.html>. Frignet, Jerome. "Food Insecurity and Aid Policies in Ethiopia." Humanitarian Practice Network. Web. 27 Feb. 2011. <http://www.odihpn.org/report.asp?id=2635>. Levine, Donald N. "The Challenge of Population Growth in Ethiopia." Norway - the Official Site in Ethiopia. Web. 27 Feb. 2011. <http://www.norway.org.et/News_and_events/etiopia/levineextract/>. Nagle, Garrett, and Briony Cooke. Geography for the IB Diploma. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2009. Print. "Nutrition in Crisis Situations - Vol 11." Welcome to the Official Web Site Locator for the UN System of Organizations. Web. 27 Feb. 2011. <http://www.unsystem.org/scn/archives/nics12/index.htm#Ethiopia>. "Spotlight: Food Security in Ethiopia." FAO: FAO Home. Web. 27 Feb. 2011. <http://www.fao.org/ag/magazine/0602sp2.htm>. "THE STATE OF FOOD AND AGRICULTURE 2003-2004 1." FAO: FAO Home. Web. 27 Feb. 2011. <http://www.fao.org/docrep/006/y5160e/y5160e15.htm>. Von Braun, Joachim. "Famine and Food Insecurity in Ethiopia." Home Page. Web. 27 Feb. 2011. <http://cip.cornell.edu/DPubS?service=UI&version=1.0&verb=Display&handle=dns.gfs/1200428184>. Webb, Patrick. "Famine and Food Security in Ethiopia." International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). Web. 27 Feb. 2011. <http://www.ifpri.org/publication/famine-and-food-security-ethiopia>. Worku, Zemedu. "Is Sustainable Food Security Possible in Ethiopia." MediaETHIOPIA - Your Ultimate Portal to Ethiopia. Web. 27 Feb. 2011. <http://www.ethiopians.com/foodsecurity/zemedeworku_foodsecurity.htm>.

8 9

Data from: http://www.ifpri.org/publication/famine-and-food-security-ethiopia Data from: http://ddpext.worldbank.org/ext/ddpreports/ViewSharedReport?&CF=1&REPORT_ID=10313&REQUEST_TYPE=VI EWADVANCED&HF=N 10 Data from: http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/COUNTRIES/AFRICAEXT/ETHIOPIAEXTN/0,,menuPK:295955~pageP K:141132~piPK:141109~theSitePK:295930,00.html