Farmer Experiences with Food Shortage in Southern Ethiopia

By Mulugeta L Handino, Field Researcher and Development Expert with Food First

I returned to Ethiopia on December 11, 2006 after five years of studying abroad in the Netherlands and the U.S. to conduct field research on “food shortages, household coping strategies, and their implications for developing effective household food security policies in Ethiopia”—the subject of my graduate dissertation. For this research I chose the place where I was born and raised: Kacha-bira district in the Kembatta Tembaro Zone of Southern Ethiopia. I know the area very well and have worked as a development agent at the community level. Not long ago this district was considered food self-sufficient and did not even suffer a great deal from the notorious famine of 1984-5, which claimed thousands of lives in other parts of the country and remains a powerful image of Ethiopia in the Western world. Today Kacha-bira district is categorized as food-insecure and the number of people who depend on relief aid is increasing at a disquieting rate.

Ethiopia and Food Security

Many decades have passed since Ethiopia started its struggle against its historical enemy, food shortage. As I write this story, the government of Ethiopia, in collaboration with the Transitional Government of Somalia, has launched a wide scale war against the so called Islamic Courts Union (ICU) and terrorist groups who are categorized as dangerous for the unity of Somalia and “national security” of Ethiopia. It is very unfortunate that a country like Ethiopia, where over 8 million people are food insecure, would go to war that costs millions of dollars and many human lives.

The current government of Ethiopia has launched an ambitious policy on poverty reduction and food security. The overall objective of the food security strategy, first prepared in 1996 and then revised in 2002, is to enhance food security at the household level. At the same time, the government’s rural development policy focuses on establishing food self-sufficiency at the national level (Mo FED 2002).

In addition to the government’s effort, international donors including the US and European Union have provided millions of tons of emergency food aid to Ethiopia. Yet the overall food security situation in Ethiopia is deteriorating and many regions and districts that once were food secure are becoming ever more vulnerable to food shortages and hunger.

What went wrong with the government food security interventions and policies? Why has food security remained an uphill struggle for Ethiopia? Why is food aid from the US and the EU failing to increase household-level food security? What are the opinions of food aid recipients toward this response to food shortages?

These questions inspired me to investigate food shortage in Ethiopia, and to write down the stories of Southern Ethiopian farmers struggling to establish and maintain food self-sufficiency. So far I have interviewed and visited with households from four wealth categories: better-off, middle, poor, and very poor. Over the past two weeks I have learned from farmers struggling with hunger as well as from farmers with food-secure households, who are beginning to climb the ladders of development. Here are stories from three of these farmers:

I. Adanech H/wold

The Kacha-bira district is one of the areas where there is the highest population density, about 500 people per square kilometer. Land is one of the major constraints of production in the area. Adanech H/wold is a woman farmer who owns only two timads of land. She possesses a cow and four chickens, and shares a goat. On her two timads of land she grows enset , maize, sweet potato and some garden spices and vegetables. Since she doesn’t have oxen, Adanech practices a share-cropping system by letting someone who does own oxen plough her land and share the produce. Despite her relentless effort to win daily bread and ensure sufficient food for herself and for her six year old daughter, life is an uphill struggle for Adanech.

Two years ago Adanech became eligible to participate in the government’s Productive Safety Net Program (PSNP), intended to help support households suffering from chronic food insecurity. Through this program she receives cash in exchange for her labor on public-works projects. Adanech also receives food aid from non-governmental and other humanitarian organizations in the area. I asked Adanech H/wold why she is still food insecure despite all these efforts and supports by government and NGOs. Her responses were brief and clear.

“I just want to say one thing. I am capable of farming on my two timads land and supporting my family. My priority and need is not food aid. My problem is shortage of land, lack of oxen to plough, and the price of fertilizer and seed. If I get all these, I will show you how I can overcome food shortage. I don’t appreciate food aid and PSNP as a solution for food shortages. Once you start receiving food aid you feel dependent on someone. It erodes your confidence and morale to work hard. So you always dream of support from somewhere whenever there is food shortage. It makes you helpless to food shortages.”

Adanech’s self-stated needs for food security are presently not met by the government or NGO food aid programs. These support systems have no long-lasting effect on her food security effort: they are donor-driven prescriptions which address only the symptoms and not the root causes of food shortage.

II. Abiyo Melore

Another person I interviewed was Mr. Abiyo Melore, a 60 year old farmer who represents the “better-off” wealth category. He owns six timads of land, six cows, two oxen, a donkey, two sheep, and ten chickens. He has a large enset crop plus coffee trees, eucalyptus trees, maize, teff , and sweet potato. He has never received food aid from the government or other institutions. I asked him what are the most pressing problems that farmers like him are facing in their effort to ensure food security. He responded, “My urgent need and question for the government or any other development institution is to reduce the price of fertilizer.”

The government used to subsidize the price of fertilizers and provide them at the right time and right place. The elimination of this fertilizer subsidy under pressure from the World Bank and IMF has led to skyrocketing prices, such that fertilizer is becoming out of reach even for a better-off farmer such as Abiyo. It has a negative and discouraging effect on farmer’s efforts to produce more in order to support the government’s effort.

I also asked Abiyo his opinion on the government response to food shortages. He replied;
“I think government’s food aid is not encouraging farmers to work hard. Rather it is creating negative and downward competition to get involved in a PSNP. I think government should rather encourage positive competitions among farmers.

“The other important thing is that farmers should be encouraged to do their own research and trials on different fields. Farmers need training and support on making organic fertilizers and should be encouraged to keep their own seeds; they need encouragement and technical supports. This gives them a 100% guarantee for farmers to produce more and supply the country with different food sources.

“Farmers have the solution in their hands. Government should turn its focus to the farmers. If government continues providing relief aid and PSNP, then the recipients easily develop a dependency syndrome that will eventually become hard to overcome.”

III. Mochena Moliso

My third interviewee is Mochena Moliso, a 40 year old farmer. He has four children between the age range of 4 to 18 years. He owns a cow, two chickens, and shares a goat. He has three and half timads of land. He grows maize, enset, teff, and a few coffee trees.

Like many farmers in the area, life for Mochena is becoming hard. I have known Mochena for the last 15 years and he was one of my target farmers, receiving technical support during my work as a development agent five years ago. He is a very hard working and innovative farmer. During this time I have noticed lots of changes in the livelihood of Mochena’s family. Since 2004, he has participated in the PSNP and also become dependent on relief aid. I have asked him why these changes happened. He said,

“I used to farm on five timads of land but three years ago, I shared one and half timads of the land with my brother.

“In 2003, I had difficult times in my life. Rain arrived late and stopped early. It was one of the hardest times in my life. So I sold my productive assets like cow, oxen and goat to cope with the food shortages. In addition to this, the price of fertilizer has become very expensive and unreachable. These situations forced me to be dependent on food aid and participate of PSNP.”

I also asked Mochena, what do you expect from the government and other institutions to help recover from the situation and overcome food shortages? He answered: “I need oxen, seed, and fertilizer. If I get all these, I am confident that I will be able overcome my problems.”

All three of these stories convey similar messages about the government, international donors, and NGOs: food aid is not yielding the intended result of food security. Despite its positive contributions in times of emergency, food aid and other interventions are creating dependency, weakening farmers’ capacities for innovative farming, disrupting the prices of other food resources, and changing the marketplace for indigenous foods.

Additionally, the removal of the fertilizer subsidy under pressure from the World Bank and IMF has caused immense problems for poor farmers. Food aid and PSNP are not solving this problem; rather, they are exacerbating the situation. The government, donors and other institutions need to re-evaluate their policies and interventions to move towards a more sustainable food security in Ethiopia.

Photo: Farmer Abiyo in his coffee farm By Mulugeta L Handino