- Ethiopia is again facing food scarcity that has put the lives of over eight million Ethiopians at risk, particularly those in the South-West Oromia region where 11 people died of hunger and lack of clean water.
The food insecurity, caused by a long period of drought in Oromia region, affected close to half a million people, the National Disaster, Prevention and Control Commission confirmed.
Aid agencies provided food aid to tens of thousands of affected families in Borana and Bale in January.
Ethiopian authorities expressed worried over the escalating chronic food insecurity which resulted to a high number of malnutrition in the country.
The Horn of African country had a history of the world's worst drought that killed a million Ethiopians in October 1984.
Large and small ruminants [cows, sheep, goat, etc] became the first victims. They grow thinner, forcing their owners to sell them cheaply before they became worthless bones.
The death of crops due to heat and arid conditions turned the fertile land into sterility, living over five million people starving while two million others fled their homes.
At the time, the government of Mengistu became so involved in several costly internecine struggles within its borders to the extent that it could not cater anything for the starving population.
However, a documentary by the late renowned Kenyan photographer, Mohammed Amin had moved the world's attention to the Ethiopian crisis. More than half of the people who watched the sympathetic documentary, which portrayed people dying in dignity, including three heads of state, cried. In the end, Ethiopians were bailed out.
afrol News - It is called "financial inclusion", and it is a key government policy in Rwanda. The goal is that, by 2020, 90 percent of the population is to have and actively use bank accounts. And in only four years, financial inclusion has doubled in Rwanda.
afrol News - The UN's humanitarian agencies now warn about a devastating famine in Sudan and especially in South Sudan, where the situation is said to be "imploding". Relief officials are appealing to donors to urgently fund life-saving activities in the two countries.
afrol News - Fear is spreading all over West Africa after the health ministry in Guinea confirmed the first Ebola outbreak in this part of Africa. According to official numbers, at least 86 are infected and 59 are dead as a result of this very contagious disease.
afrol News - It is already a crime being homosexual in Ethiopia, but parliament is now making sure the anti-gay laws will be applied in practical life. No pardoning of gays will be allowed in future, but activist fear this only is a signal of further repression being prepared.
afrol News / Africa Renewal - Ethiopia's ambitious plan to build a US$ 4.2 billion dam in the Benishangul-Gumuz region, 40 km from its border with Sudan, is expected to provide 6,000 megawatts of electricity, enough for its population plus some excess it can sell to neighbouring countries.
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