Aid agency orders seed for starving Ethiopians

An Irish aid agency has ordered more than 70 tonnes of seeds for farmers whose families are starving to death in rural Ethiopia, it was revealed today.

With rain now falling in the drought-stricken African country, Concern is on hand to distribute life-saving supplies of haricot bean and sweet potato cuttings to tens of thousands of hungry land owners.

However aid agencies on the ground fear starving families, who are desperate for food, could eat the seeds before they are even planted in the ground.

Paul O’Brien, Concern’s overseas director, said the three months it will take for the harvest to grow are critical.

“We have this window of opportunity to try and do something to ensure that there will be an end in sight in the next few months,” he said.

“If we can get seeds out, and people can actually get those seeds.

“But the danger when you are buying seeds is that people will actually eat them, so we have to distribute food along with the seeds.

“Hopefully there will be a harvest from them in three months.

“But this period is probably the worst. It is going to be the worst time for people there.”

Almost 25 years after a famine sparked Band Aid, a drought – compounded by spiralling food and oil prices – has left around 10 million helpless people in Ethiopia with no food.

Government rations usually handed out to the poorest 5.7 million people are being cut back as demand for emergency aid rises and productivity in factories is cut because of ongoing power cuts.

Concern, Ireland’s largest non-governmental organisation, recently launched a €2m crisis appeal to fund emergency food and health programmes and provide seeds and tools to tens of thousands of Ethiopians who are on the brink of starving to death.

Generous Irish donors have already ploughed €1m into the pot with the cash going towards an order of 72 metric tons of seeds.

But Mr O’Brien said more has to be done to target those most in need.

“We have put in a purchase order for seeds and we are trying to get them out,” he continued.

“But we certainly don’t think we are in any way near addressing the needs that are in the current critical period.

“What we have is a green famine. It has rained and that rain has brought with it the lush that we see here in Ireland, but hidden beneath it is nothing.

“People have nothing in their grain stores and nothing in their homes.

“Our target is to get another €1m from the public, but our aim is to raise more than €9m in total for the Horn of Africa.

“We’re struggling and are particularly worried that there are still a lot of areas that NGOs don’t have access to.

“We think there’s probably a bigger crisis in Ethiopia than what is being reflected.”