1980 Dbq Essay

When it comes to the famine in Ethiopia, how did the government make it worse? In the 1980s, a famine in Ethiopia occurred and was one of the worst events of the twentieth century. Ethiopia’s food shortage and hunger crisis led to at least one million deaths. A question asked a lot is why the famine of 1983 to 1985 was so disastrous. One of the main focuses was because of the government's actions and programs. Did the government make the famine worse? Yes, some of the reasons include not allowing their farmers to produce extra grain, poor leadership, prioritizing the military rather than their people, and pushing away non-governmental organizations such as Medecins Sans Frontieres. The government’s role in contributing to the famine overall

A resettlement program was made so that they could help those that struggled against nature. Tasks were given to the resettlement officers such as making compatriots self-reliant and productive, clear forests, build houses, and transport and resettle compatriots. The resettlement program was unsuccessful because the expectations were too high and many of them were inexperienced in that field of work. According to document F, it is said that the current president at the time of the famine, Mengistu Haile Mariam’s strategy for dealing with the famine directly affected the people of Ethiopia. It appeared to be aimed more at using the crisis to weaken insurgencies than meeting the food needs of the starving people. The regime established feeding centers at major cities and towns under its control in the north but refused to authorize movement to insurgent areas. This hindered international efforts to reach the people who were at risk of starvation. Moreover, instead of the government giving priority to their people, they gave priority to Soviet ships unloading military cargo. The president even rejected food truces that were offered. The government was prepared to use force such as airstrikes because they did not want to give away supplies to insurgent areas. As a result, the government made it worse by dumping a

One example is a large non-governmental organization by the name of Medecins Sans Frontieres. The organization is one that delivers medical aid to different countries. They have helped over seventy countries total. Medecins Sans Frontieres wanted to open a feeding center for Ethiopia but were rejected by Ethiopian authorities. Kelala, a region in Ethiopia had more than six thousand children suffering from serious malnutrition. In addition, several hundred children had died because of a lack of treatment for four months. Based on the document it is said that, “We have been seeking authorization to open an intensive feeding center in Kelala for four months…Since June, we have been asking Ethiopian authorities to just give us the go ahead because Medecins Sans Frontieres will take care of everything in the field from people to supplies.” This could have been solved if the government had allowed Medecins Sans Frontieres to help their country. Rather than accepting Medecins Sans Frontieres help, the government made the famine worse by restricting Medecins Sans Frontieres from helping