Indigenous responses to drought in sub-Saharan Africa*

Drought is a frequent occurrence in contemporary sub-Saharan Africa, and the existence of periodic drought can be documented over hundreds of years. As a consequence of the routine rainfall shortages that affect them, agricultural and pastoral societies have developed a number of social institutions and mechanisms for bridging temporary food production shortfalls caused by drought. Drawing on the literature and field data from southeastern Kenya, this paper discusses a number of regular indigenous responses to short-term drought in sub-Saharan Africa. Changes in these patterns in the present day are also discussed. It is concluded that market-based responses are now the most important strategies, but that traditional institutions remain significant and contribute to the viability of drought-affected societies.     

Restoring regenerative systems of production in Sub-Saharan Africa: Research requirements

It is the principal proposition of this paper that formal agricultural research, and its supporting policies and planning, has not responded adequately to the special situation that exists in semi-arid Africa. In many cases the transfer of research approaches based on temperate and more humid tropical experience has contributed to greater instability and the growing environmental crisis. Radically different research structures, objectives, methods and expectations are necessary to contribute to the redevelopment of long term regenerative systems of production that will provide the short and long term needs of the people who live in the semi-arid regions and at the same time protect these environments.     

From drought relief to post-disaster recovery: The case of Botswana

This article discusses the initiative of the Government of Botswana in formulating and introducing a programme to assist recovery in rural areas after the present drought period as an important aspect of the national development effort. It examines the process by which this Post Drought Recovery Programme was arrived at, its limitations, the extent of its appropriateness to longer-term factors which render rural households more vulnerable to drought, and suggests conclusions which may be drawn to inform the design of similar programmes elsewhere.     

Normalising the Crisis in Africa

Developmental relief has become the central doctrine of 'good practice' in humanitarian responses to complex political emergencies. This is despite the fact that a proliferation of such emergencies reflects a failure of development for people in those countries in crisis. Drawing on case study material from Sudan, Somalia, Rwanda and Uganda, this paper challenges assumptions made about the efficacy of developmental relief models in complex emergencies. The trend towards developmental relief practices coincides with an increasing acceptance of higher levels of humanitarian distress in Africa. Myths of aid dependency and the pursuit of sustainable programming in the midst of war are linked to a global reduction in aid. The mantra of 'local solutions to local problems' locates the causes of crises firmly within those societies in crisis. It provides a premise for international disengagement, and the denial of international responsibility for the genesis and prolongation of humanitarian crises in Africa. Assigning solutions to the poor, the marginalised and victimised through enhanced 'participation' and local financing of services sustains a myth that development is occurring, when in fact levels of distress are rising.     

Food aid and relief-development strategies*

This paper begins by setting out the main arguments on which a proposal for "relief-development strategies" rest. The second part of the paper is concerned with a discussion of the way the objectives of a "relief-development strategy" might be achieved and the roles emergency food aid might have. In the third part of the paper, a number of strategic issues are discussed. A stylized account is presented of how a broad "relief development strategy" might be mounted. The last part of the paper draws together the discussion by considering how emergency projects should be assessed. If the principles on which this paper are based are accepted, then the evaluation of emergency projects should extend well beyond convention.     

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.     

Food Security in Protracted Crises: Building More Effective Policy Frameworks

This paper considers the principal elements that underpin policy frameworks for supporting food security in protracted crisis contexts. It argues that maintaining the food entitlements of crisis-affected populations must extend beyond interventions to ensure immediate human survival. A 'policy gap' exists in that capacities for formulating policy responses to tackle the different dimensions of food insecurity in complex, fluid crisis situations tend to be weak. As a result, standardised, short-term intervention designs are created that fall short of meeting the priority needs of affected populations in the short and long term and only partially exploit the range of policy options available. The paper discusses key attributes of agency frameworks that could support more effective policy processes to address longer term as well as immediate food security needs. Additionally, it points to some main challenges likely to be encountered in developing such frameworks and, with the participation of beneficiaries, translating them into effective action.     

Military Intervention and Humanitarian Action: Trends and Issues

An important trend in military doctrine for so-called 'peace support operations' has been to place them on a spectrum that includes coercion and enforcement. This paper focuses on British writers of doctrine as those responsible for driving the debate forward and forging a consensus among leading military powers. Their discourse is combat oriented, a fact reinforced by a trend towards strategic subcontracting to coalitions of the militarily willing and able. At the same time, there has been a move to institutionalise the involvement of military forces in relief, peace building and development activities. The overall emphasis is on stability and security to facilitate the delivery of humanitarian relief and to establish the conditions for peace-building processes. In the case of Bosnia, this involves conditionality and economic leverage. Although there is a long-established record of peace-keeping forces engaging in goodwill activities (with mixed results), the current trends contain contradictions that seem likely to contribute to the widely perceived erosion of classical humanitarian principles.     

Global factors shaping the future of food aid: the implications for WFP

Food aid is a key component of a humanitarian response but its use in other programming contexts is subject to numerous criticisms. Even in humanitarian emergencies food aid is often late, unreliable and out of proportion to other elements of the response. Three major factors will shape the future of food aid. First, mechanisms of food aid governance are being reviewed and may undergo major changes—particularly the Food Aid Convention now that hopes have diminished for an Agreement on Agriculture at the World Trade Organisation. The second significant factor is donor agency trends. Overall levels of food aid have dropped fairly steadily in recent decades and there are several discernible trends in resource allocation, procurement and the use of food aid. The third factor is an emerging body of best practice that will define acceptable standards of food aid programming in the future.     

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 Death of Humanitarianism?: An Anatomy of the Attack

Over recent years, the humanitarian community has been under increasing scrutiny and attracted harsh criticism. This mounting critique of humanitarianism has shifted from being concerned primarily with the poor functioning of the humanitarian system to one targeted on basic humanitarian values. This paper is concerned to understand the factors driving the attack on humanitarian values. It identifies four apparently disparate groups who are interested in attacking these values: the anti-imperialists, the realpolitikers, the developmentalists and the neo-peaceniks. It concludes that unless humanitarian actors are aware of these diverse threats to their values and operations, they risk being co-opted or marginalised.     

Apples, Pears and Porridge: The Origins and Impact of the Search for 'Coherence' between Humanitarian and Political Responses to Chronic Political Emergencies

During the 1990s a consensus emerged within the international humanitarian system that there was a need to enhance the 'coherence' between humanitarian and political responses to complex political emergencies. Closer integration between aid and political responses was seen to be necessary in order to address the root causes of conflict-induced crises, and to ensure that aid did not exacerbate political tensions. This paper explores the theory and practice of coherence over the past decade. It argues that, by sleight of hand, the coherence agenda has been reinterpreted such that humanitarian action has become the primary form of political action, rather than merely a substitute for it. The coherence agenda has been driven by geopolitical events, domestic policy considerations in donor countries and the more parochial concerns of aid policy, and is reflected in a number of substantive changes in the humanitarian architecture. Many of the tenets of this 'new humanitarianism' have been embraced by the majority of relief agencies, and thus legitimised it. The paper concludes that political humanitarianism, as opposed to active engagement by political and military actors, is flawed ethically and technically. It will provide neither an effective palliative for the ill effects of war, nor address its causes.     

What happens to the state in conflict?: political analysis as a tool for planning humanitarian assistance

It is now part of received wisdom that humanitarian assistance in conflict and post-conflict situations may be ineffective or even counterproductive in the absence of an informed understanding of the broader political context in which so-called 'complex political emergencies' (CPEs) occur. Though recognising that specific cases have to be understood in their own terms, this article offers a framework for incorporating political analysis in policy design. It is based on a programme of research on a number of countries in Africa and Asia over the last four years. It argues that the starting-point should be an analysis of crises of authority within contemporary nation-states which convert conflict (a feature of all political systems) into violent conflict; of how such conflict may in turn generate more problems for, or even destroy, the state; of the deep-rooted political, institutional and developmental legacies of political violence; and of the difficulties that complicate the restoration of legitimate and effective systems of governance after the 'termination' of conflict. It then lists a series of questions which such an analysis would need to ask--less in order to provide a comprehensive check-list than to uncover underlying political processes and links. It is hoped these may be used not only to understand the political dynamics of emergencies, but also to identify what kinds of policy action should and should not be given priority by practitioners.     

Selective feeding programmes in Ethiopia and East Sudan–1985/1986

A survey of thirty-four feeding programmes in Ethiopia and East Sudan was undertaken. Wie differences were found between the two countries and also within Ethiopia. Irrelugar general ration distribution was commonplace in Ethiopia, thus placing an extra strain on selective feeding programmes. The principal admission criteria to Selected Feeding Programmes (SFPs) were weight for height categories. The cut-off stages of the emergency. Useful compasirions between programmes were hampered by such differences, as well as by the different methods of reporting data.
The types of food usd in programmes depended on availability and included high energyu drinks, poridges, take-home pre-mixes and sometimes indigenous foods. A large number of foods e.g. cornedbedef, chicken paté, noodles, da4tes etc. Some added interesting variety and added nutritional value to the diet, while others caused more problems than they solved due to their low acceptability, inappropriate packaging, limited accompanying information and complex an costly preparation. The imlementation of food dination policies by donors and consignees regarding appropriate foodstuffs and their recommended use was considered to be the major solution to this problem.     

In Defence of Humanitarianism

The humanitarian crisis which followed in the wake of the genocidal regime in Rwanda in 1994 generated massive media attention and an unprecedented outpouring of international public and private assistance. In late 1997, the Rwanda refugee population in Zaire was subjected to a disaster of similarly epic proportions as a result of military action. Yet this crisis went relatively under-reported and failed to attract substantial aid funds, particularly from official donors. This paper seeks to document and account for the demise of the humanitarian imperative. It confronts a number of the criticisms of humanitarian action, concluding that, rather than being flawed, traditional humanitarian values remain valid and should be defended wherever there are situations of conflict.     

Reviews

David Turton War and Ethnicity — Global Connections and Local Violence
Hugh W. Stephens The Texas City Disaster, 1947
Christopher G. Newhall and Raymundo S. Punongbayan Fire and Mud: Eruptions and Lahars of Mount Pinafubo, Philippines
MThomas G. Weiss and Leon Gardenker NGOs, the UN and Global Governance
D. Apter The Legitimization of Violence
James K. Boyce Economic Policy for Building Peace: The Lessons of El Salvador
Christine Kinealy A Death-Dealing Famine: The Great Hunger in Ireland