Volume 13 No. 1 1989 The Journal of Disaster Studies and Management Contents Agriculture and Food Security in Ethiopia NICHOLAS WINER The Food and Nutrition Surveillance Systems of Chad and Mali: the "SAP" after two years P. AUTIER et al. The Relief Operation in Puno District, Peru, after the 1986 Floods of Lake Titicaca L. SZTORCH, V. GICQUEL and J.C. DESENCLOS The Role of Socio-Economic Data in Food Needs Assessment and Monitoring J. SHOHAM and E. CLAY Diet and Nutrition during Drought: an Indian Experience N. PRALHAD RAO A case Study of Social Behaviour in a Natural Disaster: the Olivares landslide (Spain) J.L.G. GARCIA and M.V.S. PARRA Experiences of Non-Governmental Organisations in the Targeting of Emergency Food Aid J. BORTON and J. SHOHAM Seminar on Bangladesh Floods H. BRAMMER International Conference on the greenhouse effect and coastal areas of Bangladesh H. BRAMMER Forthcoming Events Book Reviews Basil Blackwell for the Relief and Development Institute DISASTERS The Journal of Disaster Studies and Management EDITOR Fred Cuny, Intertect, Derrick Jelliffe, School of Charles Melville, Faculty of Dallas, Texas Public Health, University of Oriental Studies, Bruce Currey Winrock California, Los Angeles University of Cambridge international Institute for ^ ^echat. Centre de ASSISTANT EDITOR Agricultural Development, Recherche sur Susan York, Relief and Bangladesh 1'Epidemiologie des Development Institute lan Davis, Disaster Desastres, 1'Ecole de Sante EDITORIAL BOARD ^"^ puu ue Universite oxford^TT ^ oxfordo , ^ ' Hugh Brammer, Relief P^Y ^^ ' ^ Catholique de Louvain, and Development Institute Frances D'Souza, Dept. of Brussels (Book Reviews Editor) Biological Anthropology, _, , , University of Oxford /-i. Robert Chambers Institute J; Children-T-i Fundr- -. , Londonr 1 of Development Studies, ^ ^ Washington David Turton, Department University of Sussex ^ DC of Social Anthropology, Lincoln Chen, School of Julius Holt, London School Faculty of Economics and Public Health, Harvard Hygiene and Tropical Social Studies, University University ^ Medicine °^ Manchester Edward Clay, Relief and Richard Hughes, Ove Arup Brian Ward, Asian Institute Development Institute and Partners, London of Technology, Bangkok DISASTERS is the only journal to bring together research on disasters and relief and emergency management. Covering all forms of disaster from sudden onset disasters such as earthquakes and floods to famines and refugee migration, and taking a worldwide geographical perspective, DISASTERS promotes the interchange of ideas and experiences between relief practitioners and academics. The Journal maintains a balance between field reports from relief and development workers, case studies, articles of general interest and academic papers. It also contains book reviews and conference reports, and welcomes letters and discussion. DISASTERS is published four times a year, in March, June, September and December. Orders with remittance, enquiries and requests for sample copies should be addressed to: Journals Department, Basil Blackwell Ltd, 108 Cowley Road, Oxford 0X4 1JF or PO Box 1320, Murray Hill Station, NY 10156, USA. ISSN 0361-3666 Subscription prices 1989: Institutions $105.00 (North America), £60.50 (UK), £64.25 (Overseas). Individuals $70.00 (North America), £38.50 (UK), £42.50 (Overseas). Single Issue Prices. Institutions $27.00 (North America), £15.50 (UK), £16.50 (Overseas). WuvateW\™\ hmm:),i \mW , m,W \ON™^, U.S. Mailing. Second class postage paid at New York. Postmaster: send address corrections to Disasters, c/o Expediters of the Printed Word Ltd, 515 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 1022, USA — (U.S. mailing agent) . Typeset by Columns of Reading Printed and bound in Great Britain by Dotesios, Bradford-on-Avon Per. 3 FOOD STUDIES GROUP Q.E.H. 21 ST GILES OXFORD 0X1 3LA Contents IIS?S%D^^ Agriculture and Food Security in Ethiopia NICHOLAS WINER The Food and Nutrition Surveillance Systems of Chad and Mali the "SAP" after two years P. AUTIER et al. The Relief Operation in Puno District, Peru, after the 1986 Floods of Lake Titicaca L. SZTORCH, V. GICQUEL and J.C. DESENCLOS The Role of Socio-Economic Data in Food Needs Assessment and Monitoring J. SHOHAM and E. CLAY Diet and Nutrition during Drought: an Indian Experience N. PRALHAD RAO A case Study of Social Behaviour in a Natural Disaster: the Olivares landslide (Spain) J.L.G. GARCIA and M.V.S. PARRA REPORTS AND COMMENT Experiences of Non-Governmental Organisations in the Targeting of Emergency Food Aid J. BORTON and J. SHOHAM Seminar on Bangladesh Floods H. BRAMMER International Conference on the greenhouse effect and coastal areas of Bangladesh H. BRAMMER Forthcoming Events BOOK REVIEWS Coping with uncertainty in food supply (I. de Garine and G.A. Harrison) D. TURTON Disabled persons and earthquake hazards (K.J. Tierney, J. Petak and H. Hahn) A. DARNBROUGH McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of the Geological Sciences J. JACKSON Agriculture and Food Security in Ethiopia NICHOLAS WINER Food security in Ethiopia is discussed in the context of the repeated famines and me international responses both to them and to the socialist agricultural policies being pursued by Ethiopia. Increasing concern has been expressed by the international donor community regarding the ability of Ethiopia to absorb development funds without a major shift in emphasis in agriculturalpolicy-making. The background to Ethiopia's present vulnerability is shownboth in terms of the size of the vulnerable population and in terms of the poor performance of the agricultural sector in the last decade. The author looks at the present agricultural and marketing policy reforms and questions whether they are sufficient to generate the sort of international response needed to create the level of food security that would be required to avertfuture famines. Food security in Ethiopia is a subject of Programme for 1988, including the im- continuing importance given the histori- portance of imports to the national food cal experience of repeated drought and picture. famine. By the 1980s the scale of Ethiopia's The figure for 1988 is unlikely to be vulnerability to the vagaries of the weather reached due to the problems caused by had become a matter of periodic inter- the civil unrest in the northern parts of national attention and concern . Govern- Ethiopia. It now appears that around ment attempts to cover up the extent of 670,000 mt. is predicted to be distributed the famine in 1973 and 1974 in the during the year as a whole. This is based northern region of Wollo are felt to have on a difference of 64% between what was contributed to the downfall of the Imperial actually distributed in the first quarter of regime. Famine and its management had 1988 and the amount that was planned for become a political issue. The famines of distribution (WFP, 1988). the 1980s have taken place against a This enormous emergency food aid backdrop of continuing civil war and thus requirement sits on top of the consider- they too have their political dimensions. able food deficit which exists in years of Although the public's attention was normal rainfall and food production. For focussed on the major relief efforts of the first half of the 1980s this deficit stood 1984/5 and 1987/8 there has in fact been a at around 350,000 mt. p.a.. This was based continuing need to provide emergency on a five-year average of food production relief in the form of food. Table 1 shows for the normal seasons 1979/80-1983/84 of the breakdown of food aid from 1985 to 6.2 million mt. which, set against con- the projections made by the World Food sumption needs for the same period of DISASTERS VOLUME 13 NUMBER 1 Imported Imported Imported Total National Imports as Relief Food f or Commercial Food Food a % of Food Work Food * Imp orts Production Production 1985 765.60 155.00 124.00 1,044.60 4,370.00 23.90 1986 735.00 151.00 321.80 1,207.80 5,495.00 21.98 1987 287.85 69.00 131.00 487.85 6,650.00 7.34 1988 1,085.46 160.00 100.34 1,345.80 5,678.00 23.70 *AMC year runs from July to July. 1985 = 1984/85 AMC year. NB: All units are OOOs of metric tonnes. (Sources: WFP, FAO, Agricultural Marketing Corporation (AMC), Central Statistical Office (CSO), 1988) 6.55 million mt, shows an estimated must be in a position to acquire the annual deficit of 350,000 mt. (UNEPPG, necessary food. There are thus problems 1987) . This deficit will increase annually of both availability and income which as the growth in food production during need to be addressed. the 1980s has not been able to keep pace How any government decides to ad- with the 2.9% p.a. population growth. dress these issues can determine the levels Thus even under optimum conditions of assistance made available. Donors to a the country itself has a large food import programme initiated by a government will requirement. At the individual household look at it in terms of their own policy pos- level, food insecurity is manifested in itions on such issues. For the Ethiopian various ways. National food consumption government, with its avowedly radical figures (see Figure 1) indicate that a vast Marxist policies, this has resulted in a number of Ethiopians, although having lower level of external assistance, particu- access to food, do not actually have a bare larly from the industrialised West, than minimum diet as recommended by the the Government had been seeking. Food and Agricultural Organization of the The political context of working in U .N. (FAO). These people for whom Ethiopia therefore dominates all other malnutrition is chronic, possibly number- issues for those interested in the develop- ing more than 14 million, comprise the ment of the agricultural sector. The frame- largest single group suffering from food work of government and the policies it insecurity in Ethiopia.