Starvation looms as food runs out in drought-hit Ethiopia
Starvation looms as food runs out in drought-hit Ethiopia.
The Somali people of Ethiopia’s southeast have a name for the drought that has killed livestock, dried up wells and forced hundreds of thousands into camps: sima, which means "equalized".
It’s an appropriate name, they say, because this drought has left no person untouched, spared no corner of their arid region.
Droughts are common in Ethiopia, and in past years the government and international community have mounted impressive efforts to curb starvation.
"After that, we don’t know what’s going to happen."
Health indicators such as infant mortality and malaria deaths have also improved.
A stronger economy allowed Ethiopia to spend an impressive $766 million (683 million euros) fighting one of its worst droughts in decades in 2015-16.
This year however, things are different.
Economic growth has slowed, due in part to protests spurred by long-simmering grievances against Ethiopia’s one-party state.
Ethiopia by contrast has a strong central government and is relatively free from conflict.