At a hearing of the House International Relations Committee of the U.S. Congress last week, American and Ethiopian speakers said that the policy of the Ethiopian government was responsible for the current famine in Ethiopia.

According to a report filed on the hearing, Professor Mesfin Wolde Mariam, founder and Chairman of the Ethiopian Human Rights Council, testified at the hearing, telling Congress that the current famine was caused by the policies of the Ethiopian government. He was particularly critical of the Ethiopian government's decision to spend vast amounts of money on weapons and pursue a senseless war with Eritrea at a time when scarce resources should have been invested in agriculture. He concluded: "As long as Ethiopian peasants remain powerless and in bondage famine will continue to decimate Ethiopian peasants, and the regime will continue to call on the international community for relief and assistance."

Representative Frank Wolfe, who showed a video documenting the tragic effects of famine in Ethiopia, was also extremely critical of the Ethiopian government. He said the war between Ethiopia and Eritrea was "literally over nothing."

Representative Tom Lantos also emphasized the very poor political and human rights record of the Ethiopian government. Lantos mentioned his concern about the upcoming trial of Professor Mesfin.

Henry Hyde, chairman of the House International Relations Committee, opened the hearing by outlining the critical issues. He mentioned that the U.S. had in the past been the most generous provider or food aid to Africa and said that Ethiopia was again facing a crisis. Hyde said: "In 2000, large-scale famine was averted in Ethiopia and Eritrea due to both donor support provided by the United States and the good work of the United Nations World Food Programme. However, three years later, an estimated 15 million people in Ethiopia and Eritrea are at risk of starvation. The crops in 2002 yielded a very small harvest, and, last summer, early warning systems began to predict a dire harvest in the Horn of Africa. Since August 2002, the United States has provided approximately 430,000 metric tons of food, equal to $179 million. There is little left in the delivery channels for the remainder of this year. Congress appropriated $1.2 billion in the Emergency Supplement bill for Africa this year. Through the efforts of Congressman Wolf and others, Congress was able to provide an additional $250 million in aid to Africa through September 2004."

Hyde noted that the ambassadors from both Ethiopia and Eritrea attended the hearing and he instructed them to listen to the testimony and the comments of the members of Congress. The ambassadors were not invited to testify, however. Hyde said that he was "interested in learning about the political developments within Ethiopia and Eritrea and the commitments by these governments in meeting the long-term development needs of their people. How much have they opened their markets and invested in private sector agricultural development? Saving lives in crisis takes priority over long-term development needs. However, my sense is that genuine development in Africa must be founded on sound investments in agriculture in order to avert the vicious famine cycle. And we also need to pay more attention to the HIV/AIDS pandemic which has so adversely impacted the productivity of the Farmers."

Andrew Natsios, Administrator of the US Agency for International Development, also emphasized the need for the Ethiopian government to change its policies. "Food aid alone, however, is clearly not the long-term solution for Ethiopia. The crisis in Ethiopia today is just the most recent in a series of food security crises that have devastated the country over the last twenty years," Natsios said.

Natsios added: "The United States will provide more than $300 million worth of food aid this fiscal year. During the same period, we will provide $4 million of agricultural development assistance. While the Ethiopian government has taken a leadership role in responding to the famine, it has been reluctant until very recently to embrace the policies that will stimulate growth and investment in its agricultural sector to avoid future famines.

"Unless the donor community invests in recovery and prevention initiatives while promoting good government policies, these periodic shocks will continue and so will the associated costs in lives and resources. The donor community must allocate more resources toward famine prevention activities such as those in the agricultural sector. At the same time, unless the Government of Ethiopia embraces accountable and open governance and enacts market and trade reforms necessary to increase the capacity of local producers, Ethiopia will remain in a chronic state of hunger. It is critical that we all do our part to put the systems and policies in place that will prevent the next food security crisis in Ethiopia from occurring."

Sheila Sisulu, Deputy Executive Director World Food Program, described the need for food aid to Ethiopia. She said: "Over 11 million Ethiopians require food and other relief assistance. An additional 3 million people need to be monitored very closely; they are in a precarious condition and may need assistance in the near future. In Eritrea a smaller number - 1.4 million drought-affected and an additional 900,000 displaced or recovering from war - require food aid, but this accounts for about two-thirds of the total population." She said that in Ethiopia at present the World Food Program needs 260,000 metric tons (MT) of food, currently it has about 20,000 MT in country and 40,000 scheduled to arrive soon. "It is critical that we find an additional 200,000 metric tons pledged and into the pipeline quickly in order to avoid widespread malnutrition."

Sisulu also stressed the need to address the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Ethiopia. "An estimated 2.2 million Ethiopians are infected by HIV/AIDs, including 200,000 children, and almost 1 million children are orphaned as a result of HIV/AIDs. In Eritrea, 55,000 people are infected and there are about 24,000 AIDs orphans. Southern Africa has shown us how devastating HIV/AIDs is and how it destroys the very fabric of families, communities and even government infrastructure. HIV/AIDs leaves already poor families in a very bad position to cope with food shortages, having already lost their productive labor and given increased expenditures on medical costs. Special attention is also needed to reach children orphaned by HIV/AIDs who can be overlooked in the relief planning process.