27 November 2009
Ahmed Muhe Dawed is an 80-year-old farmer with three children from Chorisa village in the Amhara Region of Northern Ethiopia.
In 1984-85, his then home village of Geta was struck by the great famine which claimed the lives of more than a million people in Ethiopia.
With 80% of the population engaged in the agricultural sector and farmers depending on rainfall to grow crops, the drought brought devastation across the country.
The world responded with Band Aid, an unprecedented effort by the global community to help people like Ahmed.
But it was too late for many.
Ahmed recalls, "the crops in the field were withered due to the shortage of rain and the drought caused as a result, making it impossible for me and my family to survive."
With no food at home and facing starvation, he was forced to migrate to a place called Bure where he had hoped to be able to work and bring home some food. After being there for just 11 weeks, he was called to see his mother, who was terminally ill.
With tears streaming down his face, he recalls, "When I arrived in my village, I learnt that not only was my mother ill, but my wife had passed away that same morning, and I found my nephew whom I have been raising for 13 years sick in bed. A few days later he also passed away."
Ahmed described how the cattle had died one by one leaving him in an empty hut.
"I was above the dead and below the living", he says.
Very soon he realised that his neighbours were also in a grave condition, with fathers so ill they could not even bury their children.
Twenty-five years on
Ahmed says life has improved gradually as a result of the safety nets programme.
The programme supports 7.5 million Ethiopians who repeatedly find themselves without enough food.
In return for community development work such as school building, families receive regular food and/or cash payments to make sure their household has enough to eat and can grow out of poverty.
Safety net beneficiaries help build roads in exchange for food.
Under the programme, Ahmed has received training on how to use his land better and preserve rainwater for farming.
His harvest is far better than the one he had 25 years ago and he feels he is in a better position now that he is able to produce both staple and cash crops.
Above all he says, "I am able to send my children to school where they get education and receive a food ration."
Ahmed dreams about a day when he can feed his family three times a day and educate his children so that they can support themselves, their country, and him as he grows old.
The safety nets programme aims to develop long-term solutions to the problems that caused the famine 25 years ago.
Food is getting through
DFID Ethiopia is working with many partners to bring an end to people’s dependency on food aid.
This includes government, other donors, civil society and activists who continue to track progress since the 1984 famine such as Sir Bob Geldof.
Speaking on a recent visit to Ethiopia, Minister for International Development Gareth Thomas said: “The situation today is very different from the one the world witnessed in 1984 when over a million people died.
"UK aid, alongside the work of the Ethiopian Government and the wider international community, is ensuring food is getting through but there are a shockingly large number of families still going hungry every day.
"That is why we’re investing over £170m to help people now and for the future but the Ethiopian Government and international community must bring forward real and substantial reform too."
Along with DFID's work on livelihoods and food security are programmes to ensure better health, education and water services for all Ethiopians.
All part of making sure Ahmed’s children do indeed have a better life.