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E INE
OnOur Doorstep?
by
Gene
~·
Hogberg
The world is shocked at the severity of the Ethiopian famine. But
few realize even now how close to disaster the world outside Africa could be!
F
AMINE
in East Africa
burst into the headlines
at the end of 1984.
Televised news accounts
of the suffering of hundreds of
thousands of starving Ethiopian
peasants triggered the launch of
an unprecedented international
famine relief effort.
But the news reports barely
in agriculture, not only in Third
World countries b u t in the
advanced nations that so often must
come to their rescue.
You, the reader of
The Plain
Truth,
need to know what is hap–
pening.
Worst Famine in African History
While tbe plight of Etbiopia has
received the most attention, 30
Severe erosion in Africa. Deforestation, overgrazing and population pressures
hamper food production. Governmental neglect of agriculture is widespread. In tbe
U.S. one third of the best farmland suffers net soil loss because of erosion.
scratched the surface in explaining
the problem in Africa as a whole.
And practically no news source
investigated the depth of the crisis
2
other countries in Africa are
atfected by drought and famine to
one degree or another.
The grim fact is, there are two
broad famine belts, one running
just below the Sabara, spanning the
continent from east to west ,
together with another band stretch–
ing along the east coast, from the
Horn of Africa clown almost to the
tip of the continent. Together, the
two regions have produced the
worst famine in African history.
An immediate cause of the mul–
tiple famines is, naturally, drought.
But other more fundamental fac–
tors lie at the root of the crisis.
First of all, there is widespread
abuse of the land, specifically
deforestation, overgrazing and im–
proper cultivation techniques.
Governmental misdirection plays
an equally significant role. Through–
out Africa since the days of political
independence, agriculture has been
sorely neglected , often in favor of
ill-chosen industrial development. In
addition, leaders coveting the políti–
ca! allegiance of tbe urban masses
have found it expedient to clamp
price controls on the rural food
growers, which in turn discourages
production.
As a consequence, farmers have
abandoned the fertile countrysides
and joined the swollen ranks of
urban dwellers. The result is that
most African nations, once self-suf–
ficient in food production, have
become net food importers.
Wars and civil unrest- Ethiopia
being the most publicized exam–
ple-further disrupt the planting
and harvesting of crops. Nations
suffering most f rom the famine
have for years been embroiled in
civil war. It is no coincidence that
The PLAIN TRUTH