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PASTOR GENERAL'S REPORT, NOVEMBER 21, 1984
PAGE 9
mismanagement, corruption and civil strife aggravate the natural
disasters that have always beset their societies. It is no coin
cidence that some of the nations suffering most from the current
famine--Ethiopia, Mozambique, Chad, Angola--have been embroiled
in civil war for years. None of that will change quickly. Nor
will the famine go away overnight; with the best of weather, the
hunger is likely to last until this time next year•..•
Africa's dependence on relief aid will probably grow in the years
ahead. A study issued last week by the Swedish Red Cross and by
Earthscan, a London-based environmental news service, reports
that "events called 'natural disasters' are killing more and more
people every year. Yet there is no evidence that the climatolo
gical mechanisms associated with droughts, floods and cyclones
are changing." Instead, the report says that the effects of nat
ural disasters are worsened by poverty, environmental damage and
rapid population growth.
Black Africa is the world's poorest area, and it is the only re
gion in which the population is growing faster than the food sup
ply.
Agriculture never fully recovered from the devastating
drought of a decade ago. In 1982, Ethiopia's per capita food
production was only 81 percent of what it was in 1969-1971: in
Mozambique, the figure was 68 percent. On average, African gov
ernments spend four times as much on armaments as they do� ag
riculture. Primitive farming, in turn, has devastated the envi
ronment.
Under increasing pressure for production, traditional fallow pe
riods have been shortened, wearing out the soil. Most farmers
have no chemical fertilizers, and the animal dung that they once
used to enrich the soil is now being burned for fuel. That's be
cause so many trees have been cut down. Only 20 years ago, 16
percent of Ethiopia's land area� covered J2y forest; today the
figure is just 3.1 percent. "With deforestation, the soil loses
much of-Yts capacity to retain moisture and consequently its pro
ductivity and resistance to drought," says U.N. environmentalist
Seifulaziz L. Milas.
There is reason to believe that relief shipments, though neces
sary, only aggravate the fundamental problems. "Food aid saves
lives but can also undermine long-term local self-sufficiency,"
says the Earthscan report. The study concludes that "disaster
assistance must go hand in hand with development assistance."
There is much that could be done. M � ny African nations ought to
raise their artifically low food prices, in order to encourage
farmers. [But politicians fear this will cause disturbances in
the cities, which could topple them fram power.J
Large areas
need reforestation, perhaps with fast-growing species such as the
eucalyptus tree. Many countries should strike a better balance
between food crops and cash crops raised for export; Chad recent
ly reaped a bumper cotton harvest, but its people are dying for
want of homegrown food.
Above all, governments must spend money on agricultural develop
ment. "I believe Africa can become! granary for! large part of