- Title: ETHIOPIA: DROUGHT AND FAMINE BRING ETHIOPIA TO BRINK OF HUMANITARIAN CRISIS.
- Date: 16th November 2002
- Summary: (U3) DODOLA -SIRE, ETHIOPIA (NOVEMBER 14, 2002) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 1. GV/PAN/CU: DRY WATER HOLE, CRACKED EARTH (2 SHOTS) 0.13 2. GV: WOMAN WALKS THROUGH FARM HIT BY DROUGHT 0.17 3. MV TO CU: WOMAN SHOWING DRY SEEDS IN HAND 0.27 4. GV/CU: WOMEN AND CHILDREN SEATED UNDER SHADE; BABY SLEEPING (2 SHOTS) 0.36 5. MV: WOMAN HOLDING HER EMACIATED CHILD 0.43 6. MCU: CHILDREN'S FACES COVERED BY FLIES 0.50 7. ECU: OLD WOMAN HOLDING CHIN 0.55 8. MV: (SOUNDBITE) (Amharic) WOINSHET ABEBE, AID WORKER, SAYING: ''If it goes on like this people will start dying because they have not harvested anything at all. The cattle are already dying. If it continues the people here will start fleeing this place to save their lives''. 1.12 9. MV/CU: MOTHER HOLDING HER TWIN BABIES; CLOSE UP OF ONE OF THE TWINS (2 SHOTS) 1.21 10. MCU: (SOUNDBITE) (Oromigna) LEILA, MOTHER, SAYING: ''My husband has gone to work and get money to buy food. We are waiting for him come back. But now we depend on God and the government to provide throughout this bad situation.'' 1.43 11. CU: WOMAN HOLDING HER CHIN 1.50 12. GV: WIDE OF PEOPLE WAITING UNDER SHADE OF TREE 1.55 13. MCU: (SOUNDBITE) (English) TESIFAYE DETI, HEALTH OFFICER, SAYING: "The death rate in the last three months is an average of 5 to 8 children per day and if you consider the old age people it's about 5 to 7 per day on average." 2.17 14. GV: OLD MAN SEATED OUTSIDE A HUT 2.22 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
- Embargoed: 1st December 2002 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: DODOLA-SIRE, ETHIOPIA
- Country: Ethiopia
- Reuters ID: LVAEBFI3MIKF3JS951PYON8IQ3PE
- Story Text: With more than 10 million people affected by drought,
Ethiopia is facing a huge humanitarian crisis. Aid agencies
say thousands of people could die of hunger, if nothing is
done to avert a disaster.
This village in Southern Ethiopia is typical of many
others in the country. The rains have not been good, and the
latest harvest was very poor.
The Ethiopian government says up to 14 million people
could face serious food shortages next year, and has appealed
for two million tonnes of food aid.
Ethiopia suffers from cyclical droughts, which aid
agencies say have been increasing in frequency. With fewer
years to recover, the people become more vulnerable as they
face each successive drought.
"If it goes on like this, people will start dying'', says
Woinshet Abebe, an aid worker. ''Because they are not
harvested anything at all. The cattle is already dying. If it
continues the people here will start fleeing this place to
save their lives.''
Leila is a mother of eight children. As a result of the
drought, the family has now dispersed.
"My husband has gone to work and get money to buy food'',
she says. ''We are waiting for him to come back. Now we depend
on God and on the government, to help us in this terrible
period.''
Children and elderly people are the most vulnerable, and
several hundred people have already died in this region
because of hunger-related diseases. Tesfaye Deti, a
health worker, says: ''The death rate since the last three
months is five to eight children on average per day. And if
you consider the old aged people it's about five to seven per
day on average."
If aid is not forthcoming in the next few months, some aid
agencies have warned that the crisis could come close to the
famine which killed nearly one million Ethiopians in 1984.
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