My View

My View

This view is a point about Ethiopia. Ethiopia is in the news right now due to famine, it has requested food aid from the international community. But this famine like so many is not a product of lack of food (the lack of food is a symptom), the real problem is poor governance. Like many countries Ethiopia experiences an ebb and flow of all resources, but unlike other countries Ethiopia fails in any way to mitigate or prepare for that ebb. Instead Ethiopia lurches from famine to poverty to famine barely managing each new situation as and when it arises. This in indicative not just of a very poor national government structure but of an almost non existent local government structure. Ethiopia should now be in a situation where it conducts very critical reviews of its own conduct in previous crises but instead it reaches out to the international community to do what it cant, fulfill the very basic function of protecting its own citizens.

While this is a tired and tested formula, we need to be more radical and firm in tackling countries like Ethiopia, we should be able to expect a certain level of responsibility form other countries, but in return they should be able to expect the same from us. So here, in my view, is the long term solution to this as an issue, no more agricultural subsidies, quotas and barriers, no more aid to countries, a firm legally binding commitment by all countries to remove all barriers to trade by 2050 and a understanding that all countries must be responsible in creating structures and organizations that will allow governments to mitigate such issues in the future