Famine and foreigners: Ethiopia since Live Aid, by Peter Gill, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2010, 280 pp., £ 14.99 (hardback), ISBN 9780199569847
Ethiopia in the year 1984 exhibited much semblance to the oligarchic society which George Orwell portrayed in his novel aptly titled Nineteen eighty-four. The country faced one of the worst famines in living memory with conservative estimates putting the number of dead at more than 400,000. It was also a year when the ruling Marxist junta, gripped by intensive insurgency war in the north of the country, was preparing to lavishly mark its tenth year at the helm of political power. For many, the 1984 famine in Ethiopia caused a significant change in the international aid landscape, not least because of the emergence of the big international non-governmental organisations. The British journalist, Peter Gill, was one of the few journalists allowed into the country at the start of the famine. When Gill visited Ethiopia 25 years later, it was to find out if hunger was becoming a thing of the past.
In order to assess if Ethiopia was on track to make a break from a history of recurrent hunger and famine, Gill sought the views of several high level officials, scholars, representatives of non-governmental organisations, local private media publishers as well as people directly affected by chronic food insecurity episodes. The book, which is organised in four parts and 12 chapters, begins with Gill going back to the epicentre of the 1984 famine, the town of Korem. His discussions with people in the area from all walks of life paints a vivid picture of the scar left by the famine and the rather subdued hope they entertain about avoiding a future recurrence of such calamity.
Famine is neither endemic to Ethiopia nor unavoidable. It is this theme that is reflected in the discourse Gill had with prominent scholars on the subject including Mesfin Wolde Mariam, Alex de Waal and Tony Voux. While recriminations are thrown from all sides with regard to the slow and, at least initially, rather lacklustre response of the international community to the unfolding crisis in Ethiopia, there appeared to be a general consensus that the misguided policies of the military regime were responsible for the famine in the first place. Not surprisingly, this notion was pushed forcibly by the then rebel commander, now Ethiopia's Prime Minister, Meles Zenawi. According to de Waal, the 1984 famine in Ethiopia prolonged the war, a notion seconded by Meles.
When famine hit the country again in 2002–03, questions were raised about whether policies followed since the coming to power of Meles had borne fruit. In the second part of the book titled ‘Transitions’, Gill gives a detailed account of the disharmony in policy preferences between Ethiopia's major donors, particularly the IMF, and the government of Ethiopia as well as several relief measures run by the government. Control of population growth is highlighted in the book as being one of the most critical areas for containing the threat of hunger in the country.
For the first time in its history, Ethiopia conducted a hotly competed multiparty election in May 2005. As voting results began to trickle in showing massive gains for the opposition, including a clean sweep of the capital Addis Ababa, the government of Meles Zenawi declared a state of emergency. The resulting post-election violence led to the death of more than two hundred demonstrators while thousands were sent to prison. What happened then remained a point of contention between the government, the opposition and the European Union observer mission led by Ana Gomez. The government also enforced a crackdown of the private press and non-governmental organisations by passing draconian laws. The third part of the book captures not only these events but also sets the scene in Ethiopia's present hot spot, the pastoralist areas in the Ogaden region.
What are the prospects for ridding the country of hunger? This last part of the book begins by elaborating the uneasy relationship between the government, which tried to push for a changed image of the country, and the relief organisations. This played out in the aftermath of the 2008 famine which came about as Ethiopia was preparing to enter its third millennium. Gill sees some hope in the Chinese model in which aid and governance are assuredly delinked. Finally, without subscribing to the views of either side, Gill finishes by underscoring the polarised nature of politics in the country.
The breadth of political and social issues in Ethiopia which the book tackles is immense. The way in which the main research question is framed indicates an underlying assumption by the author that hunger is still a reality in Ethiopia. The book also comes at a very opportune time amid a highly charged discourse on the effects of aid among scholars and policy makers. That said, Gill's dismissive assertion regarding the aid sceptics appears to be uncalled for. Additionally, Gill admitted to have relied extensively on government officials to organise field visits and interviews. This method seems to be a double-edged sword. Whilst this approach allowed Gill to access otherwise difficult areas, such as the politically volatile Ogaden region, it, nevertheless, risked an underrepresentation of the views of dissenting voices on the subject. For instance, Gill relied extensively on interviews with the Prime Minister and former Chief of Staff of the army, Tsadkan Gebre-Tensae, to narrate the history of TPLF. Nevertheless, their account is known to be widely disputed even by their former comrades such as Seye Abraha and Aregawi Berhe. Another weaker point of the book is the author's portrayal of Chinese investment in the country. China's extremely conspicuous engagement in Ethiopia, which is driven by realpolitik, should not be construed as a better modus operandi to fight hunger in Ethiopia.