Comments on: Ethiopian Famine Averted

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 11:59:54 +0000

A lot of people in Ethiopia need emergency aid. FACT. But that don’t make it a famine

By: Simon

Simon — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 17:25:25 +0000

Update
Looks far from averted too me Rob.

http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5i8pHeu9waWnnyG33SLY1Fmpi7i6Q

By: Danny

Danny — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 09:48:40 +0000

He obviously had no interest then on the long term impact on people’s livelihoods? Would make our dreaded credit crunch look like a walk in the park.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 07:31:40 +0000

During the Kenyan “famine” two and a bit years ago, I wrote a harrowing piece about the struggles facing nomads as their cattle died all around them. I filed my copy – essentially a road trip through the dry north-east – only to get a phone call from my editor saying:
“Er Rob, nice piece, but you have a line here saying 11 people have died. Sort of undermines the general tone don’t you think. Shall we take it out?”

By: Andrew

Andrew — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 06:29:57 +0000

I can remember a UN press trip to look at a drought in Ethiopia’s southern nations region. The rain poured down throughout the trip. Lots of people managed to write around all the wetness.

By: Danny

Danny — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 16:01:50 +0000

I think we should be careful about bandying about terms like “crying wolf” and journalists “cow-towing to the powerful NGO lobby. Ultimately people’s lives are at stake here so be careful what king of agenda you drive. Just spoke to a v experienced and reliable humanitarian worker who has just returned from Ethiopia. He says the situation there is worse than it has been in years and, more worryingly, the government is doing its best to downplay the situation – which is having a major impact on response. Eg the govt delayed by four months the release of recent UN report which highlights the situation. Maybe you should be following this line of enquiry.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 17:20:08 +0000

What, you mean like swallowing the Sudanese govt propaganda about Chadian ID cards and uniforms found in Omdurman?

By: Blake Evans-Pritchard

Blake Evans-Pritchard — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 15:40:37 +0000

Can’t help but agree with the observation that too many journalists seem to spend all their time cow-towing to the powerful NGO lobby rather than making their own investigations. After all, it’s easier for them if everything is given to them on a plate, then to spend hours putting together their own research.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 09:23:34 +0000

No worries Ingrid. Incidentally most of my NGO pals have been telling me Goal has jumped the gun on this and that there remain substantial problems. They have also been telling me they weren’t billing the problems as a looming famine.

By: Ethiopia Watch

Ethiopia Watch — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 01:07:41 +0000

Dear Rob, I hope this finds you well. Sorry I've lifted yet another of your posts (and Simon's comment here above) but I fear that any links to your great posts may, within a few years, end up leading to blank 'not found' pages. Hope you don't mind. Best, Ingrid.

October 04, 2008 -
Ethiopian Famine Averted - â€œThat might be what they say, but is it true?â€
http://ethiopiawatch.blogspot.com/2008/10/ethiopian-famine-averted-that-might-be.html
- - -

P.S. Re these excerpts taken from link here below, I wonder why in one report the UN says 4 million Ethiopians need food aid while in another report, around the same time, it says the number is 6 million?

October 03, 2008 -
"4 million Ethiopians are now estimated to need food assistance" (UN):
UN health agency calls for extra $8 million to help aid operations in Ethiopia.

October 01, 2008 -
"In Ethiopia alone, more than 6 million people need emergency food aid due to the failure of this yearâ€s harvest, triggered by yet another drought. The situation has been exacerbated by both skyrocketing food prices, which have shot up 500 per cent in some parts of the country since last year, and conflict, which has thwarted the largely pastoralist population from selling their animals and purchasing food." - (UN)

http://ethiopiawatch.blogspot.com/2008/10/4-million-ethiopians-are-now-estimated.html