The development of aid agency policy on the use of imported biscuits in emergency relief

During 1985 more than 5,000 tonnes of biscuits consisting of twenty-eight different brands were sent to Ethiopia and Sudan for emergency relief feeding. They were freely available to recognized agencies operating feeding programmes. Biscuits were popular with programme supervisors as few resources (fuel, staff and personnel) were required for their preparation and distribution. They were also popular with beneficiaries.
Different aspects of biscuits were examined and characteristics considered important included: nutritional composition, acceptability to beneficiaries, packaging, the biscuit dimensions, shelf-life and accompanying information (nutritional composition, ingredients and guidelines for use).
The results of a field study indicated that biscuits have a limited, but useful, role to play in the early stages of emergency relief. Based on the study, guidelines for both donors and users, on the use of food aid biscuits were developed, which emphasize their joint responsibility in minimizing the misuse of biscuits.     

Book Reviews

Book reviewed in this article:
Disaster-Resistant Construction for Traditional Bush Houses: A Handbook of Guidelines , by Charles Boyle
Nuclear Risk Analysis in Comparative Perspective: The Impacts of Large-scale Risk Assessment in Five Countries , edited by Roger E. Kasperson and Jeanne X. Kasperson
The Chernobyl Accident and its Implications for the United Kingdom (Watt Committee on Energy Report No. 19), edited by Norman Worley and Jeffrey Lewins
Flight and Integration: Causes of Mass Exodus from Ethiopia and Problems of Integration in the Sudan , by Melkuria Bulcha
Drought Relief in Ethiopia: A practical guide for planning and management of feeding programmes , compiled by Judith Appleton     

The African food crisis of 1982-1986*

The crisis cannot be attributed to any one cause, but rather it was the product of a number of interacting factors whose precise combination varied between countries. Drought, internal political and economic factors and an unfavourable external economic environment were significant contributory factors. Civil war and externally financed insurgency were primarily responsible for propelling a food crisis into a famine in four out of the six worst affected countries. Within the literature, there is a tendency for writers to emphasize the relative contribution of factors within their own disciplines. So far the literature on the responses, both within country and internationally, is comprised of eye witness accounts by journalists and evaluations by aid agencies of their performance. The international response by governments and the public was massive and unprecedented, but the response by governments, indigenous NGO's and the public within affected countries is often overlooked by the journalistic literature. Generalizations about "the African food crisis" have obscured the considerable diversity amongst countries. This is well illustrated by the experiences of Ethiopia, Kenya and Botswana. This diversity indicates the biased perspectives that arise from focussing on the extreme famines, as in Ethiopia. Research priorities should include studies of systems that coped during the crisis, historical analysis of the crisis, the way early warning information is processed within bureaucratic institutions, environmental degradation and fully integrated analysis of food production and consumption systems.     

The Role of Food Aid in Drought and Recovery: Oxfam's North Turkana (Kenya) Drought Relief Programme, 1992–94

Regional droughts carry the seeds of catastrophe: the immediate risk is famine; the long-term risk is destitution. Preventing both situations is an appropriate, if not essential, goal for relief agencies. In the past, responses to hunger in Turkana District (north-west Kenya) have taken the form of traditional feeding programmes. A better understanding of the boom/bust cycles in pastoralist systems has, however, produced new relief strategies. A central tenet of these strategies is the acceptance that relief aid should assume two roles: humanitarian—to overcome food deficits—and economic—to overcome 'income' deficits. Arguments in favour of a broader role for food aid are tested with a case study of a drought relief programme in north Turkana between 1992–1994. Field studies confirmed that when food aid is integrated as an asset into household resources, it can strengthen economic recovery. Ultimately, the extent to which relief operations are able to protect both people's lives and their livelihoods is the key to more sustainable development in drought-prone areas.     

War and Food Security in Eritrea and Ethiopia, 1998–2000

This paper examines the 1998–2000 'border' war between Eritrea and Ethiopia and its continuing legacies from the perspective of food security.¹ Focusing on the food crisis that hit both countries during the same period and was allowed to develop into a famine in southeast Ethiopia, it argues that this was linked with the war in more ways than hitherto recognised. Such connections can be appreciated only by taking a longer-term view of the decline of the rural economy of which this food crisis was part, factoring in the role played by this and other conflicts that have flared up in the region. An analysis of this kind might have helped donors and aid agencies to respond more effectively both to short-term humanitarian needs in the midst of an inter-state war and to the need for longer-term support for food security in a region beset by endemic conflict.     

Nutritional risk factors for older refugees

This study describes risk factors for poor nutrition among older Rwandan refugees. The most important areas of nutritional risk for older refugees are: physical ability and mobility; income and access to land; access to appropriate food rations; meeting basic needs such as water, fuel, shelter; equal access to essential services (food distribution, health services, mills, feeding programmes); and psycho-social trauma. Women and older elderly (> 70 years) are significantly more often in disadvantaged positions, such as having poor socio-economic status, poor health, poor mobility, lower food intake, diminished social status, respect and social network. Older refugees are at higher risk than younger refugees and at higher risk than older people in stable situations. They should remain in good nutritional and general health for their own well-being and that of their dependants. In addition to an adequate diet, a support network seems to be an important preventive aspect.     

Hunger, poverty and food aid in Sub-Saharan Africa: Retrospect and potential

Frustrations and failures will continue to mount if we do not immediately summon the courage to revise the ways we think and take action-as well as maintaining essential services to support life and health … Saving hundreds of thousands … who are at risk of dying from malnutrition or infection is an immediate imperative. But it must be only one stage in the progress toward other activities, and one element in the truly comprehensive approach… The main intent of this paper is to explore aspects of the nature and evolution of poverty in Sub-Saharan Africa with special reference to food and hunger and their interaction with macro-economic policy. An attempt is made to outline the overall context within which food aid needs to be used in order to have a greater developmental impact. Following an Introductory Section I, Section II provides a sketch map of how recession and lagging food production - with cyclical weather crises superimposed - affect the human condition of poor people. Section III reviews die interaction between "standard" IMF stabilization and World Bank structural adjustment strategies and poverty/hunger. Improvements in the design of stabilization and adjustment programmes, and of the inter-relationship with them of emergency programmes, can be identified. A number turn on the broadened and more innovative or catalytic use of food aid. Section IV reviews aspects of facing a continuing series of emergencies and of designing life support programmes to facilitate rehabilitation of the households directly affected as well as of the national economies. From this base it explores a series of elements in achieving renewed development. The concluding Section seeks to explore the strengths, limitations and potentials of food aid in the context set by the previous sections. The standard criticisms of food aid appear to be overstated and/or to relate to particular modalities or approaches rather than to anything intrinsic. A number of criteria for improving the effectiveness of food aid - especially in respect to rehabilitation, recovery and renewed development - are set out.     

Mortality and morbidity in refugee camps in eastern Sudan: 1985-90

Civil war has disrupted life in Ethiopia since the 1960s and many people have sought refuge in Eastern Sudan, particularly during the famine emergency of 1984–85. UNHCR has provided the main financial support for the refugee programme, but began scaling down operations in 1990. Nearly 300,000 refugees still live in camps and benefit from food and health programmes. Health services are co-ordinated by the Sudanese Refugee Health Unit which operates a centralised health and nutrition surveillance system with the co-operation of the NGOs responsible for health care in the camps. A revision of the monthly reporting system and the establishment of a computer database in 1990 provided an opportunity to review the situation in the camps over the five years since the emergency. Child death rates for example, appear to have been reduced to levels below those expected in rural Africa. Patterns of mortality, morbidity, and nutritional status are outlined here and point to the general effectiveness of the health care programme. The surveillance system can, however, be used to identify those camps which have persistent problems, while monthly comparisons with the situation in previous years can provide early warning of deteriorating conditions.     

The role of socio-economic data in food needs assessment and monitoring

This paper reviews six case studies examined as part of a project to review targetting methodologies employed by non-government organisations in Africa during the 1984-6 food crisis. Most agencies have not yet fully evaluated the role of data in informing policy decisions during their respective emergency programmes. The case studies presented reflect a wide variety of approaches to targetting emergency food aid that are based largely on the use of 'socio-economic' data. The recent emergency relief operations in Africa seem to indicate a change in relief agencies' approaches to the assessment and monitoring of needs of the affected populations. Earlier dependance on nutritional data has given way to an increasing reliance on the use of socio-economic indicators. There was a wide variation in the case studies of the type of indicators collected and utilised in needs assessment and monitoring. There were those who relied almost exclusively on nutritional data to target resources during the 1984-86 African crisis, and others whose experiences during that period lead them to attach more weight to socio-economic data. Other agencies appear to have recognised the problems of relying solely on nutritional data to target food aid during their 1984–86 emergency programmes, and thus more or less abandoned classical anthropometric surveys in their needs assessment and monitoring methodologies during this period. Thus nutritional data has a less significant role in the decision making process than previously had been the case.     

The political economy of complex emergency and recovery in northern Ethiopia

During the 1980s Ethiopia experienced the effects of conflict, drought and famine on a scale far greater than many CPEs elsewhere. In May 1991, after the decisive defeat of the military dictatorship of Mengistu Haile Mariam by the Ethiopian Peoples' Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) and after decades of civil war, drought and famine, Ethiopia faced the prospects of peace and of much needed development. This paper explores both Ethiopia's experience of conflict and humanitarian intervention in areas of Tigray held by the Tigray Peoples' Liberation Front (TPLF) during the 1980s, and its experience of post-conflict rehabilitation and reconstruction in the 1990s. It first deals with the roots of the conflicts within Ethiopia: political marginalisation, heavy state intervention and highly extractive relations between state and peasants, inappropriate and failed development policies, ethnic identity and the politicisation of ethnicity. The Mengistu regime's counter-insurgency measures are then contrasted with the policies and programmes of the TPLF, Ethiopia's most effective opposition movement and the leading element in the EPRDF, and its achievements in mobilising popular support: its establishment of democratically elected structures of local governance and its famine relief distribution programme.     

Operational value of anthropometric surveillance in famine early warning and relief: wollo region, ethiopia, 1987-88

In this article I examine the operational implications of the findings reported in 'Entitlements, Coping Mechanisms and Indicators of Access to Food: Wollo Region, Ethiopia, 1987–88' (Kelly, 1992). The usefulness of anthropometric and other indicators for early warning and relief planning in Wollo is assessed by comparing the findings of Save the Children Fund's nutritional surveillance programme with those of the Early Warning and Planning Service of the Ethiopian government's Relief and Rehabilitation Commission. Case studies are used to illustrate the value of anthropometric and other indicators for targeting relief food and monitoring its effects. The costs of monitoring various indicators are then considered, and the cost of the Save the Children Fund programme is compared with that of other programmes. It is argued that in Wollo, anthropometric surveillance is a cost-effective means of improving early warning, planning, targeting and monitoring.     

Interviews with Key Informants and Household Surveys: Central Ethiopia

Nutrition surveillance as part of, or complement to, the famine early warning system in Ethiopia has been used to collect reports on local food security from community leaders using structured interviews. As this information is crucial in the interpretation of other quantitative data, it is important to assess the extent to which leaders' information reflects the food related behaviour of the community. Information on various socio-economic variables related to nutrition were collected at the household level and at the community level through structured interviews with householders and community leaders. The information given by householders and by community leaders was compared. In general the correspondence between the two was good and the continued collection of local information from local leaders justified. There were a few topics on which information might be missed using only the local leader and ways to improve collecting this information are discussed.     

Peasant survival strategies in ethiopia1

This paper focuses on peasant farmers in Ethiopia, and their behaviour as serious famine sets in. In many of the last seventeen years the crop yields on rain-fed plots in drought-prone areas have failed to meet the requirements of the peasant farmers and their families. Significant numbers have received food aid either at distribution points or in the shelters which developed in 1973 and 1984. Seeking food relief from external sources, however, is the last resort of peasants who have managed their dwindling resources for months, if not years, in order to survive.     

Agriculture and food security in ethiopia

Food security in Ethiopia is discussed in the context of the repeated famines and the international responses both to them and to the socialist agricultural policies being pursued by Ethiopia. Increasing concern has been expressed by the international donor community regarding the ability of Ethiopia to absorb development funds without a major shift in emphasis in agricultural policy-making. The background to Ethiopia's present vulnerability is shown both in terms of the size of the vulnerable population and in terms of the poor performance of the agricultural sector in the last decade. The author looks at the present agricultural and marketing policy reforms and questions whether they are sufficient to generate the sort of international response needed to create the level of food security that would be required to avert future famines.     

Food Security Reserve Policy in Ethiopia: A Case Study of Experience and Implications

Food security reserve policy in Ethiopia since 1982 is reviewed in the light of the limited progress made elsewhere in Africa in establishing and maintaining such reserves. While the reserve played some role in dealing with the crisis of 1987/8, donor confidence was eroded by unauthorised drawings from the reserve and other factors. In 1992, the Ethiopian Food Security Reserve Authority was established to provide a system of management more acceptable to donors. This had led to donor pledges to replenish the reserve, though it remains well below the target level. Despite increased government commitment of funds, donor confidence remains fragile and the reserve remains dependent on donor support. The place of the reserve in national food security policy is not yet fully defined. Conclusions are drawn for food security reserve policy in Ethiopia and elsewhere in Africa.     

The social context of childcare practices and child malnutrition in Niger's recent food crisis

In 2004–05, Niger suffered a food crisis during which global attention focused on high levels of acute malnutrition among children. In response, decentralised emergency nutrition programmes were introduced into much of southern Niger. Child malnutrition, however, is a chronic problem and its links with food production and household food security are complex. This qualitative, anthropological study investigates pathways by which children are rendered vulnerable in the context of a nutritional 'emergency'. It focuses on household-level decisions that determine resource allocation and childcare practices in order to explain why practices apparently detrimental to children's health persist. Risk aversion, the need to maintain self-identity and status, and constrained decision making result in a failure to invest extra necessary resources ingrowth-faltering children. Understanding and responding to the social context of child malnutrition will help humanitarian workers to integrate their efforts more effectively with longer-term development programmes aimed at improving livelihood security.     

Coping with drought and food insecurity in ethiopia

In this article I examine the impact of drought on farm households in Ethiopia and their response to crisis conditions. I ask whether every household in a community is equally affected by drought and what households do to mitigate the effects of drought and associated food insecurity. Information on production, income and food consumption is disaggregated by agroecological zone (highland and lowland), and by socioeconomic strata (relatively wealthy versus poor). Such detailed analysis permits an improved understanding of why the poor are much more vulnerable than the wealthy to drought and associated famines and why they need to be more effectively targeted by relief and development interventions. In a world of limited public resources for crisis intervention, such understanding is crucial to the design of improved policies and projects for reaching people most at risk.     

Impact of a commercial destocking relief intervention in Moyale district, southern Ethiopia

A commercial destocking intervention was piloted in southern Ethiopia during the drought of early 2006. The intervention led to the purchase of an estimated 20,000 cattle valued at USD 1.01 million. On average, destocked households received USD 186 from the sale of cattle--approximately 5,405 households were involved. In terms of aid investment, the approximate cost-benefit ratio was 41:1. During the drought, income from destocking accounted for 54.2 per cent of household income (n = 114 households), and was used to buy food, care for livestock, meet various domestic expenses, support relatives, and either pay off debts or augment savings. Seventy-nine per cent of the income derived from destocking was used to buy local goods or services. Expenditure on livestock care amounted to 36.5 per cent of local spending, and included the private transportation of livestock to better grazing areas. The buoyant livestock export trade was considered to be an important driver of commercial destocking, demonstrating a positive link between livestock and meat exports, and pastoral vulnerability during drought.     

The underutilization of street markets as a source of food security indicators in famine early warning systems: a case study of Ethiopia

Famine Early Warning Systems (EWS) are reliant on data aggregated from multiple sources. Consequently, they are often insensitive to localized changes in food security status, leading to delayed response or interventions. While price and infrastructural data are often gathered, this case study suggests that local street markets and vendor knowledge are underutilized. Few efforts have been made to monitor systematically the street markets as an indicator of local stressors. Findings from Ethiopia show that knowledge generated by expanding food security indicators in this sector can be used in combination with EWS to facilitate earlier intervention in, or to monitor more effectively, on-going humanitarian crises. Indicators developed from this study are accurate, cost effective, and sensitive to local climatic and food stressors.