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Social Engineering's Legacy of Poverty
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11637 |
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CURRENT ISSUES
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| Issue
Date : |
9 / 1986 |
2,050 Words |
| Author
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Anthony Shaw
Anthony Shaw is a free-lance journalist in journalist in
African affairs, based in London, and specializing in the Horn
of Africa. He has written extensively for African magazines
both in the United States and the United Kingdom. |
In 1984 the disaster of the drought and famine in Ethiopia brought about an enormous and impressive worldwide response to the pictures of starving millions on the world's TV screens. An unprecedented flow of aid poured into Ethiopia, despite many misgivings over government agricultural and social policies.
The critics of the government, and there were many, raised vocal protests. Much of the criticism came from the opposition movements who were themselves competing for aid for the tens of thousands starving in areas under their control, particularly in the Tigray region.
Even Western aid agencies became involved and began to take sides in what became a vicious and biter propaganda battle. Some, in the heat of argument, even put forward the suggestion that all aid going to Ethiopia to feed millions of starving peasants should be stopped. Others saw such ideas as quite simply indefensible. Unfortunately, such polemics diminished the effect of the valid criticisms.
Baiting Rebels?
Ethiopian government policies can no doubt be sharply criticized. Especially destructive were the massive social engineering projects that have been launched in the last couple of years as the major response to the drought and to the problem of food shortages.
In fact, the regime has tried to tackle the famine in three ways. First has been the emergency response of distribution of internationally donated food aid. In this, it did by all accounts a relatively good job. There have been widespread allegations of misuse of food aid, but numerous investigations by the European community, the United Nations, Western ambassadors, international agencies, and journalists have all failed to uncover any real evidence of sizable misuse of food aid, and none at all of the wider allegations of donated grain being sold to the Soviet Union.
There is, however, no doubt that the government did see food as a weapon in its struggle against the guerrillas in Tigray and Eritrea. Food was useful in drawing people out of the guerrilla-held areas and helping the government win some hearts and minds. The government was not alone in this policy, which showed signs of being highly successful in Tigray in particular. So much so in fact that the Tigray Popular Liberation Front (TPLF) had to arrange quickly for over 100,000 Tigreans to move by foot into Sudan in an attempt to draw world
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