Great Film! I have one question though. Why does the environment look so lush?

Harrowing film - one thing I did not understand was the reason for the insufficient aid getting to the distribution admin... the admin guy said he was not sent the correct amount each month, so could not pass on the right amount per person. But the Government tells us they have enough to send out... where is the error? Is this the aid going places it should not (why? surely the agencies track and enforce distro of what is actually sent!) or are the figures just wrong?

I am new to the board and am joining because I thought sharing my ideas and experience regarding this issue might be a good idea.

The documentary indeed was impressive and I appreciate the courage and determination of Sorious Samura. He has done his share to show to the world what it takes to lead that kind of life and how hard it is.

As an Ethiopian, most of my encounters with other nationals have been quite disturbing. The first thing that comes to their mind is "hunger". Of course, this is a fact and undeniable. But there is more into being an Ethiopian than mere hunger. First of all, the country is too big to be represented by what is shown on the international media. To your surprise, I have never seen, though I can't say that it has never been reported, a report on major international media of what positive things that country has got. As much as there is drought in some places, there are regions that are extremely rich in natural resources. As a reminder, I would like to bring to your attention that Ethiopia is one of the 12 countries around the world to join the list of countries with the highest Plant diversity (I have read one post that mentioned something about diversity but didn't grasp the idea). What this means is that, there are a number of crops and wild plants that originated or diversified in Ethiopia (this is the research are that I am directly involved in). To mention some crops - sorghum, wheat, barley, tef. There are a number of endemic and indigenous wild plant species (this is also true for some animal species like Ibex and the Semien Fox, which are endemic and endangered species). This is accredited to the diverse agro-ecological zones found in the country. Dry to extremely wet, depressions (by the way, the lowest depression in the world is found in Ethiopia – a place called Dalol and is 116 m below see level) to mountains as high as 4,500m. Nile and many other big rivers have their source in Ethiopia. The country indeed is endowed by many natural wealth. As a matter of fact, one might tend to ask an important question. If the country is as gifted as you are saying it is, why is it then people are dying of hunger?

I would like to respond to this answer to the very best of my experience. I was involved in a certain research funded by a foreign donor to do some plant diversity studies, specifically sorghum, in areas very close to where Sorious has been. I had the chance to observe some of the places “famous” for their “hungriness”. One very important thing that I was able to observe is that farmers in those region (this is also true for almost all Ethiopian farmers) are subsistence farmers and use traditional farming system. I used to think, as might some of you in the discussion board do, that these farmers are way back and need to be thought a lot about modern farm practices. Though there is some truth in it, these farmers DO KNOW a lot about agriculture. Seed storage, seed preparation, soil preparation, planting, weeding, harvesting, again storing – they have got their own ways of doing these activities. As far as I am concerned, in a given agricultural system, biophysical requirements of a crop need to be met if there is going to be a good harvest. Of all the factors, SUN and WATER play the key role. They have the sun, I guess to much of it cause it literally shines the whole year in that area. I think the problem lies in WATER, its use and management. This is the only area that I saw a weakness in their system – It is a purely rain fed agricultural system.

But, can climatic shift be blamed for all this misery? The answer is NO. Social, cultural and political conditions have an equivalent say. Culture and tradition has got a deep root in that society and one can not go there and overturn everything overnight. Religion has a far fetched influence, to the level that the farmers think God won’t let the rain come if they try to irrigate their land. I once was trying to demonstrate to a certain farmer in that area that irrigation might prove helpful and that they can harvest year round. His response was positive but I knew that it takes more than that to convince him to practice it. Generally, adoption of new techniques or practices is very low. One more thing that should be known is that the relief that is provided to the farmers has weakened their stamina some even consider it and easy way out of the requirement for food.

Political issues are to complicated and need somebody who has got a better experience or exposure to explain it. But I can say one thing. There has never come, not yet, a government which can uproot the corruption and negligence that is surfacing in most sectors, GO’s or NGO’s, that are directly or indirectly associated with this grave problem.

If deemed important, I will try to discuss some of our findings that might elaborate some of the things that I mentioned above.