EthioBlog

. . .LET US STAND TOGETHER AND EXTEND OUR HANDS TO OUR DYING PEOPLE. . .

. . .LETS START GIVING!!!. . .

Thank you Mulugeta for what you have done. Even saving a single life is a noble cause.

But I still believe, more than anything else, the root problem of Ethiopia is lack of freedom. As long as we allow the ethnic hatred to fester, as long as the Stalinist MALLT looters stay in power, as long as a truly accountable government is not in place, these problems will continue to occur. Only the million strong Diaspora, which they love to insult and demonize, can do wonders for Ethiopia. But the hatred and insults keep its help to the bare minimum possible.

Biadigilign Befekadu Thanks for the story!

God bless you and Ethiopia!

It very sad to see this human tragedy again and again.The corrupted regime is still waiting donors' pledge. I hope,the current situation will not be like 25 years ago.

This is the result of WEYANE's misguided policy and politics. When they talk about 10%+ growth, they are talking about the annual growth of the money they are stealing from the poor society.

EFFORT, a tigrian org, and other Weyane tribalists control most sectors of the economy, including agriculture. The solution is democratic revolution - power to the people, land to the peasant, and Ethiopia to Ethiopians.

Wuha bewektut enbochi.ediya!!

Please let us do s o m e t h i n g!!

Ejochachinen le erdata enzerga werewu yebkan NAZERT.COM please post some thing postive about MAMA Ethiopia "Yerhabu eroro yslechale were bicha"

Miss links in BBC reporting: accuracy, balance, objectivity and social responsibility

Attempting to weigh the 1984 situation against the current draught in Ethiopia is just a day dreaming. Doing this is like making an attempt to compare the mass of the earth with that of the fly. Surely they are unrivaled. Despite that fact, the BBC has broadcasted a program on the current food shortage in some parts of the country referring to the 1984 catastrophic situation. Obviously, the current situation in Ethiopia, by no means, is to be narrated in parallel to that disaster. However, using that footage to exaggerate the current problem puts the credibility of the giant media, BBC, into question.

On one hand, it is paying little attention to the negative impacts of such distorting reports. On the other hand, it seems a strategic attempt to smash the overall efforts of the country for democracy and development. Beyond that it is lack of respect to the Ethiopian people. The attempts could take no one nowhere but they could only put the credibility of the giant media, BBC, into question. Above all this clearly indicates that BBC is ignoring its social responsibility.

Such irresponsible reportage brings no positive fruit. Rather, it might abuse the image of the country and the dignity of the people. The evidences on the ground witness that food self-sufficiency is one of the important elements of the Agriculture Led Industrial Development Strategy (ADLI) of the country which enabled it to register undeniable results for the past seven consecutive years. Last year’s Ethiopian economic growth amid the global crises vividly shows that various efforts have been taken to realize sustainable economic growth in the country. However, there is draught in some parts of the country and about 6.2 million people need emergency food. The cause for is natural, the erratic rains during the current and the past harvesting seasons.

Lack of objectivity has also revealed in the BBC reporting. The report emphasized as if there is famine in Ethiopia. However, the current situation in the country is not a famine rather it is a draught. Ethiopia has currently faced food shortage for the aforementioned number of people due to the erratic rains. The problem will by no means go to a flat spin. It could be controlled if the government and people of Ethiopia with the collaboration of reliable donors and aid organizations work, being hand in glove, against it.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in its “A Week in the Horn” report stated that the government of Ethiopia has been addressing the immediate emergency requirements through the monitoring and surveying mechanism with the partnership of the international community. This enabled it to mobilize its domestic resources and present its appeal to the international community in order to fill the gap in food assistance. Due to the serious attention and follow up activities against the disaster, no life has been lost because of this drought. It is obvious that the drought has been impacting negatively on the agricultural potential of Ethiopia for the last three decades. The international community came to grips with this fundamental factor of climate change rather late in the day.

There is also an effort towards continuous implementation of its agricultural led industrialization strategy to bring sustainable economic transformation. In this regard, efforts have been made in promoting irrigation practices, provision of improved inputs and introducing new agricultural technologies have greatly promoted. Therefore, the giant media, BBC, has never assessed these facts and obviously failed to balance its story. The BBC rather prefers to bring in what was in Ethiopia instead of what is really in country now. All the endeavors and efforts made by the people and government of Ethiopia aren’t taken into account. As a result, the coverage seems designed not only to mislead the international community but also to damaging the efforts in Ethiopia. Every Ethiopian has to condemn the BBC it professionals for their distorting and irresponsible reportage. So, covering stories that distorts the images of developing and poor nations is one of the major irresponsible deeds of the BBC.

In this regard, Ethiopia is a typical example. What happened some decades ago has now become a history. There is hardly any relation with the current situation of the country with that time. Ignoring the national endeavors for self-sufficiency, the BBC used the 1984 disaster to exaggerate the current problem in the country.

The so called African analyst, Martin Plaut, said that “There is no doubt poor and erratic rains have hit the Ethiopian harvest. But large part of the country has not been hit by draught. The current crisis is in part the result of policies designed to keep farmers on the land which belongs to the state and cannot be sold. So farms are passed down the generations, divided and subdivided. Many are so small and the land so overworked that it could not provide for the families that work it even with normal rainfall. Ethiopian government policy banning land sales to keep people out of urban areas has also contributed.”

The analyst tried to link the current situation in Ethiopia with the land policy. In doing so, he claimed it but as the same time reacted to his own idea saying large part of the country has not been hit by draught. He failed to realize the fact that had it been for the policy, the problem could have revealed throughout the country. How could unmatched policy to the country’s situation left the most parts of the country unaffected? What if the farmers had the right to sell their plots, could they be in a position to withstand the draught? No, not by a long chalk! They rather sell their plots and face problems for their life.

The intention of the analyst is not to show what the Ethiopian people face and need currently rather to distort the national endeavors and good practices in the country by bringing the 1984 situation into view. However, the 1984 catastrophic situation is extremely different and incomparable to the current draught. Why is it necessary for the BBC to mislead the international community and distort the current image of the country? Of course, this has to be answered by the BBC itself. It is as plain as the nose on our face that the giant BBC has lost the important elements of journalism. If one asks about the social responsibility, accuracy, balance and credibility, the answer is obvious that all of these have deteriorated. The BBC has been losing all the elements of a credible media one by one.