Weekly Poll: Is Aid bad for Ethiopia and Africa?

The Economist Dambisa Moyo recently said AID is hurting Africa in general and Ethiopia in particular. She said the "aid model" has not worked for Africa, and African governments need to utilize innovative ways to generate growth and reduce poverty. Because of this, the New York Times labeled her "anti-Bono."

Dambisa was also featured on a BBC program but she was challenged by supporters of aid to Africa. Most of them say aid is important for the continent especially as a partner in development and as an interventionist policy. Therefore, as an emergency and short-term intervention policy, they say ignoring Aid could be a reckless life-or-death decision. For example, when many Ethiopians in Shashemena, Oromia were starving to death last year or when nearly half a million Ethiopians in Tigray/Eritrea died in famine in 1980s, rejecting aid could be seen no less than a death sentence ruling on the victims.

Thus, some people say there is a need for a balance when it comes to the topic AID to Africa. Both sides of the argument have supporters. Dambisa says the "bandaid solution" of food aid is not helping African countries to get out of poverty.

(Picture: more Addis breadlines )

A Jimma Times contributor in Addis Ababa recently captured devastating images of homeless and poor people at a bread line in the capital city. Just as rich Western countries give short-term "band-aid solutions" for poor African countries, some rich Ethiopian businessmen in Addis Ababa do a replica by giving "bandaid" solutions to help homeless people in Ethiopia.

According to JT contributor, some of these rich businessmen in Addis Ababa even invite hundreds of poor people in the capital city's streets and handout food to all of them for one day in order to allegedly show off their wealth and advertise their generosity in public. Such acts of "generosity" also become an incentive and encourge or increase beggary in the country. Ethiopian critics say that some of these businessmen in Addis Ababa become rich through corruption or through connections, therefore they are uneducated and unaware of better or sustainable ways of helping the poor and the homeless population.

(Picture: a guard threatens JT Cameraman)

Addis Ababa is only one of the several cities in Ethiopia that are suffering under urban poverty. Bad federal policies, urban displacement, high unemployment, high food prices and increased rural-to-urban migration have increased poverty in several cities and towns. Small business sector growth, Job creation mechanisms and long-term solutions are needed in Ethiopia. According to a World Bank (WB) affiliated report on urban poverty, "access to microfinance institutions helped households to improve their welfare in Mekele and Adama but not in Bahir Dar, Awassa or Jimma."

But how can Ethiopians and Africans determine when aid is bad or when exactly it is just about enough? This hot topic of AID is even more complicated by econo-political policies of both African governments and donors. If some Africans agree that aid should play a decreasing complementary role, how do Africans carefully monitor this decrease in its role so that Africans don't become addicted to it?

Today, Oromia region is said to have the largest number of on-going aid projects and nearly 45 percent of CSO/NGO resources in Ethiopia. But after the war-torn Ogaden region, the recent drought has hurt the Oromia region the most.

Is Aid bad for Oromia/Ethiopia?

Have your say and Vote

VOTING IS CLOSED - FINAL RESULTS

- 41% SAID "Yes"

- 36% SAID "Good only in Emergency"

- 23% SAID "No"

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Added: November 05, 2009. 11:35 AM GMT

Shame

It is surprising to read what many of you who are in diaspora wrote about the topic of aid. You are enjoying your life in relatively better situation without even taking in to consideration your families who are being starved back home. Shame up on you!!!! How do you ignore the importance of aid while millions of Sudanese have nothing to eat if the aid from the international community stops for a day? It is not only your eyes but also your mind which goes blind. It is a big suprise to me to hear you saying" Western countries should stop helping Ethiopians", forgeting your very recent history of starvation before you just came out of the country by DV or whatever. They are your families who are under the adverse situation as you were before years, nothing to eat, no house to live in, no social security, ...nothing. I hope at least most of you have good example in this type of unfortunate life. So please stop saying so and try to identify what type of help should be stopped. Think again and again and again...

Anonymous

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Added: May 31, 2009. 06:46 PM GMT

Why Africa remains poor

Ethiopia is poor like most African nations because of LOW morality. People no longer follow the bible. Lack of morality leads to poverty.
Poor people and poor governments but rich in resources.
"Give a man fish and feed him for the day, teach a man to fish and feed him for a lifetime".
That is the moral of the story. Until we teach people how to provide for themselves and not be a beggar continent then we will always be ye ferenjoch mekeleja. Neocolonised fools

One Ethiopia

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Added: May 29, 2009. 08:07 PM GMT

as long as TPLF is in power, giving aid is a waste, inhumane and irresponsibility

Anonymous

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Added: May 29, 2009. 07:37 PM GMT

what a shabian lie

hey simon, the shabian propagandist, Ethiopia is one of the least aid receivers per-capital,

you lied eritrea never received aid, so what was the 125 million europian fund recently? was that for exporting refugees. trust me your refugees are not worth that much.

Anonymous

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Added: May 29, 2009. 06:44 PM GMT

Dambisa mayo is worshipper of china

dear JT,

Dambisa is not a credible economist. she did accuse zenawi and dictators in africa but she accused them because of her anti-aid policy.

Dambisa is a big supporter of the communist regime in china.

this is what she said about china and what africa must do

<< "The uncomfortable truth is that far from being a prerequisite for economic growth, democracy can hamper development as democratic regimes find it difficult to push through economically beneficial legislation amid rival parties and jockeying interests. In a perfect world, what poor countries at the lowest rugs of economic development need is not a multi-party democracy, but in fact a decisive benevolent dictator to push through the reforms required to get the economy moving">>

Pathetic!!!

Jirata

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Added: May 29, 2009. 05:23 PM GMT

simon,

what are you talking about eritrea? your eritrean government was accepting food aid for many years. in early near 2000, eritrea was the biggest aid beneficiary in africa per capita!!! the only reason dictator isayas has stoped taking aid is because Western countries told him he has to hold an election if he wants western aid

by the way, many people are going hungry and many dying in eritrea today because of drought or many fleeing in record number. we can not see everything on media because eritrea is the only african country without private media

Ethiop

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Added: May 29, 2009. 04:30 PM GMT

Aid in it self is a big business

Aid is a business that seems to exists with out addressing the need of the people it was supposed to help.

You can read even a better book The Lords of Poverty http://www.amazon.com/Lords-Poverty-Prestige-Corruption-International/dp/0871134691

Only Eritrea seems to have seen and practiced the self reliance route, although many have said it will not work, by going cold turkey, it is making it work. Of course Aid organization and NGO do not like this attitude, and would rather cut their support than encourage the idea, but one can ask, is any one dying from starvation in Eritrea, where hardly any aid has been received for years ?
On the other side, look at the case in Ethiopia, in spite of receiving billions of aid ( one of the highest in Africa) there are still more than 14 million people vulnerable and even some dying for lack of food.

If you were to analyze where the money has gone, almost 3/4 of it will go back to the donor farmers, transport owners and hired NGO's and private banks of selected few in Ethiopia. The rest of the crumbs will be spread around and will not be ever enough.

Sadly this model for more than 50 years has crippled Africa and encouraged the begging mentality in Africans. Whether we like it or not, if Africans need to extricate themselves from this mess, they have to follow the Eritrean model of self reliance, if need be with the cushion of having aid as a back up, if things don't work.

All this is conditional on the aid donors putting African interest before their own, unfortunately I do not see that happening in the near future.

Simon

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Added: May 29, 2009. 04:29 PM GMT

the rich tigres in adis ababa are the most disrespectful and snobish people in africa

Anonymous

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Added: May 29, 2009. 04:01 PM GMT

the question is not if aid is good or bad but what kind of aid? the military aid to the meles dictatorship must stop as soon as possible or BUSH and co must be brought to justice for their indirect role in all of these crimes in africa

Abdi

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