The harrowing famine in the Horn of Africa sends a serious message

Aug 04, 2011 Letters

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Dear Editor,
While the world pays attention to the ongoing civil unrest in Syria, the debt crisis in America, and the unraveling of the News Corp Media Empire over the phone-hacking scandal in Britain and other parts of the world, the harrowing famine in the Horn of Africa continues to ravage the people living there.
It is the underbelly of climate change, which snuffs out the lives of innocent children almost as soon as they are born.
Their deaths (children of the famine) have become so commonplace that, their burial ceremonies, at the carcass dump, barely stir the emotions of parents and onlookers.
The world will never know who they were or what might have been their contributions to society.
For want of food and water they die before their parents, who, themselves suffer from acute malnutrition, and who will eventually follow them if supplies by the United Nations, do not reach them on time.
It could be considered one of the world’s worst tragedies. Over 10 million people remain vulnerable to this terrible situation.
It has threatened to, and in some ways, has already up rooted entire communities and displaced people, who in their rush to find refuge from the scorching heat are ambushed by criminal elements, involved in rape, looting and other terrible crimes.
The damage – social, psychological and economic – appears to be enormous. No doubt, this will have a ripple effect on other countries of the region and the world because we are living in one shared global space – a global village.
Activities in this shared social space have contributed to the situation in this part of Africa. High industrialism, and consumerism, the push and pull for more raw materials, and the rise of the throwaway society, by industrialized economies, and even in some developing countries mimicking the lifestyles of the rich though they can’t afford it, have all but elevated emission levels and the depletion of the ozone layer, giving rise to climate change and global warming.
While this phenomenon affects rich countries they have the technologies and the wherewithal, to adapt and cope with the various and varying environmental changes. Such technologies are not available and accessible to poor countries.
But poor countries also indulge in activities that cause environmental degradation; deforestation, over-irrigation (in the Ethiopia rift) burning of charcoals, improper mining practices, and improper disposal of waste contributing to water and soil pollution.
In fact, Proclamation 4 of the 1972 Stockholm Declaration states that “in the developing countries most of the environmental problems are caused by underdevelopment”. As a result, Africa from its internal activities inevitably contributes to the degradation of its own environment. Again, the use of fuel wood for energy generation and the poaching of endangered species are good examples of how this continent is contributing to its own environmental degradation.
The use of fuel wood as an energy source contributes to deforestation, disruption of natural habitats, and could result in respiratory tract infections when it is burnt in poorly ventilated areas.
Still, fuel wood is the most used source of energy in the Africa’s rural areas. The use of fuel wood is due to lack of access to modern sources of energy – another indicator of underdevelopment. It’s a wheel in a wheel. The pendulum swings back and forth in the space-time dimension drawing attention to changes in our global ecology and the need to become more conscious and active to slow the pace of global warming and environmental degradation.
The United Nations’ Food Programme to those countries caught in the strong grasp of the famine in Africa, though helpful, is grossly inadequate to the search for a more enduring solution to the problem.
The supplies will feed and provide limited medical care for the people in Somalia and other countries, but it will not change their circumstances in a manner that will make them self-sufficient and resilient against the extreme weather situation. Yet, this is what they desperately need.
Clearly, there needs to be more insightful interventions that would support and develop appropriate agricultural practices, training and education, and adaptability by the people in the region to extreme climatic conditions. Anything short of that will only stave off the chilling cries of the babes and sucklings suffering from starvation; it will not stop them.
But looking to the developed countries for help and receiving it is not enough. Countries that are better off in Africa should do much more to be their brother’s keeper.
For one, they can unite against the marauding cliques of rebels and militias in various parts looting, raping and preventing supplies from getting through to certain sections. This act in itself impinges on the human rights of the people there.
The other area is governance. There has been no central government in Somalia for over twenty years. The law is whatever the powerful and strong say it is. In those circumstances, unthinkable atrocities are committed against the weak and vulnerable, particularly women and children.
This is a very serious issue because their fleeing to neighbouring lands will impact on the health facilities, the environment and its resources in those countries.
Therefore, the problem will shift from country to country changing forms as it goes along.
The problem on the Horn of Africa is Africa’s problem as much as it is the concern of the international community. The world must find a solution to it.
But what lessons can we learn from this dreadful situation. I wish to suggest a few modest ones.
First, that good governance is indispensable to environmental justice and stewardship.  Basic tenets of good governance are fairness, justice, transparency and accountability, and empowerment. It allows for the formulation of policies, laws and regulations, which safeguard the health of the  environment and the rights of citizens.
It facilitates participation of the people in the decision- making process, including those who are concerned with their local communities – how their lands are allocated and developed.  This then gives people a sense of ownership and responsibility to care, respect and sustainably develop the land. Conversely, the lack of good governance means that people can be dispossessed of lands and can remain spectators rather than participators to local development.
Also, it provides for the establishment of appropriate social and other institutions that empower the people. In Somalia, women appear to be taking the brunt of the impact. They appear to be the least empowered. Lack of empowerment could lead to a multiplicity of problems and a great burden to society. In Guyana, we need to continue to empower particularly our women, through education and knowledge on the environment and the importance of securing its health.
Second, we should not take the environment for granted. It is the basic and most fundamental element for human existence and development. Therefore, the events and phenomena that affect its wellbeing must be given the utmost consideration by all. In the face of criticisms and skepticism about climate change, the world is experiencing it.
Shifting patterns of rainfall, increasing temperatures, and melting ice in the Arctic region are causing unprecedented and extremely challenging environmental events in almost every country in the world.
In Guyana, we do not have prolonged droughts like some other regions but we are vulnerable to floods.
Drawing on the experience of the 2005 flood, one would have thought that we, Guyanese, would have been more regarding of the environment.
Not so. People are still indulging in illegal dumping and other actions that continue to hurt our environment.

Royston King
Executive Director
ECHO

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