"The Last Famine"

One of the great journalists of our time, Paul Salopek, recently published an article on the famine in the Horn of Africa this year (Foreign Policy Magazine, March 2012).
Salopek, with his characteristic, ethnographic approach, details the impact of the famine, of the environmental change, on nomadic, pastoralist communities in the north of Kenya, in the region of the mythic Lake Turkana, "...A gargantuan wilderness of hot wind and thorn stubble..."

Salopek's investigation turns him, seemingly unwittingly, as he is also a humanist,  into a critic of humanitarian aid; his words encapsulate the conundrum of long-term humanitarian assistance:

"The savannas were crisscrossed by invisible migration routes, seasonal pasturage rights, proprietary water holes. In a place as destitute as the Turkana Basin, food aid hadn't just swollen human populations, but undermined those antique rules. It had also encouraged the nomads, ruinously, to maintain more animals than the fragile pastures could sustain; living on donations, they saw little need to eat or sell off their herds in times of drought. And so, the rangelands eventually wore away, becoming sterile as concrete."

The fine line of humanitarian assistance, of ecological devastation, of the increasingly heavy human burden on remote, ragged, thin lands, in addition to its thickening presence elsewhere; the human as the occupier of this earth, its burden.
Stopping food aid to these communities would cause mass death, which is not a viable solution, even for the most hardened critics of foreign assistance.

Is it possible to go back? Has the West, has our benevolence, brought about systematic destruction of survival mechanisms, and, if so, what is to be done?

Looking the Other Way

 Looking the Other Way
The Economist recently published a short article entitled "Looking the Other Way," following up on a theme that I had touched on awhile  back at the onset of the brutal Somali famine. The biggest question that I raised initially was why is the West and the African public bearing the brunt of the fund-raising and donation efforts being undertaken to help alleviate the suffering in the Horn of Africa, while the most obvious partners, the neighboring countries and the countries of the broader AU, are providing a pittance? Fundamentally, one would expect a country such as Kenya, which shares a long and porous border with Somalia, to be stumping up funds for humanitarian aid, as they are most subject to bearing the brunt of the cross-border ramifications; a nation such as Uganda, which has provided troops for the AU mission in Mogadishu (funded by the UN/West through its peacekeeping initiatives) will provide men, but not food aid (there are no reimbursements from the international community for food aid, I suppose). Thus, the famine continues, as many as 3/4 of a million people at risk of eminent starvation, and 4 heads of state from Africa actually showed up for the pledging conference in Addis Ababa; could Jacob Zuma not spare a day, and could his country, South Africa, which makes up 1/3 of the GDP of the continent, spare more than the measly $1million dollars pledged? Zuma, staunch advocate of "African Solutions to African Problems...." This figure is simply an affront to collective humanity, to the dreams of the Pan-African statesman of the past. Zuma sent $250million to diminutive, autocratic Swaziland to help them fend off default and the subsequent democratic reform demanded by the international community. African solutions to African problems? Is the famine in the Horn not an African problem? Is this not a dangerous game of lethal hypocrisy? Criticism alone cannot provoke action; the action must be collective and intrinsic. If the entire African Union cannot pledge more than the $50 million already committed for the calamity unfolding on the continent, one must question the basic governmental impetuses of the nations of this land, the shared bonds and collective humanity present, or so seemingly deficient. How can true development take place in states that show little interest in actual altruism towards neighbors, and thus, their own citizens? Have the leaders been simply more frugal than the international community because they understand the realities of aid on the ground more than those in the developed world? Is this, in itself, a wake up call? Or is it simply the reinforced understanding that the international community will share the brunt of the burden, as they have done since independence for many of the aid-reliant states on the continent. This entire humanitarian catastrophe has shown down like a magnifying glass on the motivations and predispositions of the governments of the region, and it has not been a pretty sight.

Symptom of a Larger Problem

In reading this article this morning, I was struck by the deeper message of this story on Oxfam's work shaming African governments into contributing more to famine relief in Somalia. Why are African governments not leading this charge, why are the governments of the region, the nations with the most at stake, in terms of regional stability and development, not at the vanguard of this push to save fellow African lives? Where is the leadership of the great African democracies, shaming the rest of the world for inaction? How is the current situation, in which governments from the other side of the world, with little actual tangible economic and political interest in what is occurring on the horn of Africa, are leading the charge, plausible? It was reported that South Africa, the superpower of the continent, had recently upped its contribution to $1million. And the African Union, the pillar of the continental, pan-African vision? $500,000. That is a shameful, paltry sum, offensive in its meagerness. This great pan-African congress can surely muster more than half a million dollars. Why is this charge being led by Oxfam and not the African Union? The meaning here is much deeper than simple initial inspection allows. The situation is indicative of a larger mindset, which is at the least troubling, in an age in which the nations of the developing world, and Africa specifically, are to be taking the charge of their own destinies, competing in the global marketplaces through deregulation, and becoming responsible global voices. And where are these voices? Where is the governmental leadership? Where is the responsibility to take charge and act? Where is the great mutual and community regard that has carried through the ages on the continent? It again turns to the West, turns to China, for relief, for aid, for help. The domestic leadership so sorely needed, missing, desperately, sorely, missing.

 

 

Oxfam Urges African Governments to Give More to Famine Relief

Michael Onyiego | Nairobi

Photo: AP

Children from southern Somalia, receive food in Mogadishu, Aug 15, 2011

As calls for assistance to fight the famine in Somalia increase, aid group Oxfam says African countries must also do their part to alleviate the suffering.

Following a declaration by the African Union, countries around the continent are observing a day of solidarity and awareness with the victims of the ongoing famine in Somalia. But at the same time, a coalition of civil society and relief organizations gathered to criticize the African response to the food crisis sweeping across the Horn of Africa.


Since bursting into the public eye just over a month ago, response to the drought and subsequent famine has largely been led by humanitarian groups and the United Nations.  Western nations, particularly in Europe and North America, have pledged significant funds to relief efforts, but Oxfam International spokesperson Anne Mitaru says African leaders have not played a large enough role in addressing the crisis.
“There is general disappointment that can be felt across the continent.  What was missing is the African voice. The bold African voice, the bold African face of leadership on this matter,” said Mitaru.

And beyond leadership, Africans Act 4 Africa, known simply as AA4A, says the continent is not pulling its financial weight. People in countries like Kenya and South Africa have organized donation drives to contribute to famine relief, but with aid efforts facing a $1.3 billion shortfall, AA4A says the governments will need to get involved.

The African Union initially announced a contribution of around $500,000. South Africa also announced an initial contribution of more than $150,000. But Oxfam’s Mitaru says such contributions are unacceptable.

“When you look at the South African economy, one of the largest, actually the leading, biggest economy on the continent, $150,000 is a poor show," said Mitaru. African governments may not have the resources to entirely meet the funding gap, but they cannot not be part of the solution.”

South Africa has since upped its pledge to around $1 million, and Botswana, Sudan and other countries have pledged money. But Africans Act 4 Africa says the continent’s governments can do better. In just more than a week, the Kenyans for Kenya campaign has already generated over $2 million from private and public donations.

Oxfam and the AA4A coalition are calling for African governments to raise at least $50 million towards famine relief in Somalia. The groups released a report that breaks down how much each government can allegedly afford to contribute. The report says South Africa, Nigeria, Libya, Egypt and Algeria should donate more than $5 million each.