The ongoing famine in the Horn of Africa, which is threatening the lives of millions, is one of the best-kept secrets in the American media.
I first started following the crisis this past summer, via the Al-Jazeera network. But I have yet to hear wind of it from an American news source, and many people that I talk to are unaware that there is a famine in East Africa entirely.
This doesn’t seem right, considering there are plenty of reasons why we should pay attention to this story. The famine in the Horn, which encompasses the nations of Somalia, Ethiopia, Djibouti, and Kenya, thus far has resulted in a humanitarian disaster and regional instability.
(CU Independent Illustration/Josh Shettler)
At the same time, however, I can understand why the crisis is not receiving more attention from American news sources. Regional instability in Africa is nothing new — it has been an issue since the decolonization period in the mid-twentieth century. Likewise, that particular area of the world is sadly familiar with humanitarian disasters.
It would not be a stretch therefore, to suggest that Americans have become desensitized to the various woes in Africa, which would also explain the lack of urgency in response to the ongoing famine.
However, Majka Burhardt, a local Boulder author, suggests Africa does in fact have hope. Ethiopia, although located in the Horn of Africa, has not suffered as much as a result of the famine; the main focus has been on Somalia.
This has to do largely with the political context of Somalia, which is a failed, and often lawless, state. Ethiopia, rather, is often viewed as “a symbol of African pride,” as Burhardt suggested to me during an interview.
Ethiopia, in addition to being Africa’s only unconquered, nation, is also home to some of the world’s finest coffees. There are literally thousands of varieties of the plant found in the eastern African nation, some of which are rare and highly valuable. Burhardt demonstrates in her most recent book, “Coffee Story: Ethiopia,” that coffee, a prized world-commodity, holds the key to Ethiopia’s potential.
Coffee has been an integral aspect of Ethiopian culture for several thousand years, and continues to be inherently important today Few however, seem to make the connection between Ethiopian coffee on the global scene, and economic development in the Horn.
This is perhaps, part of the reason why famine was able to take hold in the Horn. There is a fundamental misunderstanding concerning famine — that it is the result of environmental factors such as drought. However, there are a multitude of factors that cause famine, which include poverty and political instability.
Economic development, therefore, should be one of the primary focuses in preventing famines from occurring. Expansion of the coffee market in Ethiopia is as good a place, as any, to start.
Increased emphasis on the value of Ethiopian coffee could lead to an increased emphasis on the value of Ethiopia itself, along with the rest of the Horn of Africa nations. A famine in Africa may seem too far away to be of any importance here in Boulder; however, as the world continues to shrinks in the globalized era, events across the globe will be more and more prevalent.
Emphasizing economic development is key to the region going forward. Expanding Ethiopia’s coffee market alone will not solve all of Africa’s problems, but it does offer at least one way out of the cycle of poverty and conflict so familiar to the region.
What is important to take away from the events in the Horn, in addition to Majka Burhardt’s book, is that amidst poverty and instability, there is promise and potential. The future of Africa is not lost — rather, it has yet to be discovered.
Contact CU Independent Staff Writer Taryne Tosetti at Taryne.tosetti@colorado.edu.
