Exercise: Imaging Famine.
Ethiopian statistics make interesting reading. According to available figures from Africa Economic Outlook the current population is about 86 million. The GDP is $121 Billion with economic growth running at over 9% PA. So much for the good news.
Now for the bad. In 1950 Ethiopia had a population of 18 million. In 1984, at the height of the famine, the population was 40 million. It is predicted by AEO that by 2050 the population will reach 148 million. The median age is 25 and 42% of the population is under 14. Ethiopia has 80 ethnic groups sharing 90 different languages and three major religions. It’s government weak and corrupt.
Ethiopia only comes to notice in times of war or famine. As usual bad news is good news when it comes to selling news papers.
The Ethiopian famine was certainly bad news. The famine of ’83-’85 is estimated to have killed between 400,000 and 1,000,000 people. The then president Meles Zenawi, who followed Mengistu Haile Mariam, admitted that he did not have the resources to combat the impending famine that was blamed on a poor harvest. The world respond with food aid, NGOs moved in and the rich and famous rode their band wagons into the front line. Pictures of the famine’s victims, mountains of food aid and images of the aforesaid rich and famous pleading for more aid were to be seen in every paper and on every bill board. The positive result of this was the saving of many lives, but the down side was to ever link the name Ethiopia with failure, famine and poor governance.
According to All Africa the Ethiopia Government is warning NGOs not to use the words “famine, starvation or death” in their food appeals. Neither are they to say that “children are dying on a daily basis,” or refer to “widespread famine” or say that “the policies of the government in Ethiopia are partially to blame.” Neither are they allowed to “compare the current crisis to the famine of the eighties.” Instead, the latest drought in Ethiopia is to be described as “food insecurity caused by a drought related to El Nino.” Thus the next food shortage and famine will not be the fault of Government, the population explosion, or ethnic tensions but will be blamed on global warming and the increased incidence of El Nino.
The point is never made that with a permanent food deficit, an exploding population, regular harvest failures and weak governance the probability of famine is ever present.
During the famine of ’83-’85 there was a degree of self censorship as to what pictures news papers published. As is said in the article, the really gory images were not to be used, so the published fare tended to be the generic pictures of dusty plains and unposed and fault free victims. They all had the look of images taken by outsiders rather than by the people themselves. How images of the next famine will look with Ethiopia’s Government taking a tighter grip on what the “truth” is will be interesting. What is for sure there will be more.
I found it patronising for The Guardian to say that the events in one part of Africa, be it Ethiopia or any other country, leads us to lump all of Africa together. As the article said, Africa consists of 57 different and distinct countries each with their own set of strengths and weaknesses. It is because the media concentrates only on what is wrong in Africa that this image is sustained. There is still too much of the Van Der Post, “Africa wins again”, in the reporting of African stories. Look for the worst and you will find it.
During the 1993 Sudan famine the photographer Kevin Carter took a photograph that one him a Pulitzer Prize following it’s publication in the New York Times. It depicts a small dying girl being stalked by a vulture. Following the publication of the image, Carter received a lot of criticism for not doing more to save the girl. So much did this effect him that within three months Carter had committed suicide. This is a very powerful and graphic image that illustrates the real horror of famine. There is little hope in the image.
A less graphic picture of famine was taken by Mike Wells during the Uganda famine of 1980. It shows a wasted black child’s hand in the palm of a well nourished white hand. The message here is very different. It not only shows the effect of famine, but also gives a feeling of help and support. This is a far more hope in this image. There is second message that, again, it is the white West that is coming to the aid of Africa.
These two images are far from the stock pictures of piles of food aid, Bob Geldof, and mass migration that is the usual fare. The Carter and Wells images were original, powerful, and honest.
References:
2015 Index of Economic Freedom. [Online] Available at:
Ethiopia: Famine, Starvation and Death in Ethiopia Renamed by Its Government as "Food Insecurity" [Online] Available at:
Iconic Photos. W. Willoughby Hooper on Famine. [Online] Available at:
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