May I begin by saying that I appreciate the concern underlying the motion on the situation in Ethiopia and say that the Government share that concern. As the House is aware, the Government have taken practical steps to assist in the major international efforts being undertaken to provide the necessary relief supplies and to ensure that they reach those in need. It will continue these efforts over the coming months.
Before describing these in detail, I wish to outline some of the background to the food supply situation in Ethiopia. It is a country with a structural food deficit. It does not grow enough food to feed its population even in good years, and as it is one of the poorest countries in the world, with an estimated GNP per capita of $120 per annum, it has to rely on food aid supplies to meet the shortfall. In addition, there are a number of internal and cross-border conflicts in the Horn of Africa where Ethiopia is situated, with the result that there are some 700,000 refugees from Sudan and Somalia who have sought refuge in Ethiopia. These are being looked after by the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) and other aid agencies.
The situation at present in Ethiopia is that the main 1989 harvest, which should now be available to feed the population and their livestock, has been poor in many areas in Northern Ethiopia and in some areas in the South. It has failed almost completely in Eritrea and in eastern Tigre, which extends over the north and north-east of Ethiopia. In both of these areas there are internal conflicts with rebel movements opposing Government forces. These hamper delivery of relief supplies, particularly to Tigre which is entirely in rebel hands. The main access roads into Tigre from the south and south-west are closed.
Due to the conflict, it is difficult to be precise about requirements, but estimates of approximately four million people at risk and requiring some three-quarters of a million tonnes of food aid during 1990 appear likely to be realistic. These are very large figures, but by late November about one-fifth of this had been pledged by the donor community and more has been offered since. It will need a continued and concerted effort by everyone, but it is possible to provide the requisite supplies. A Government of Ethiopia appeal in November 1987 for over one million tonnes of food aid was met with 50,000 tonnes delivered in 1987, over 900,000 tonnes in 1988 and 75,000 in 1989. Ireland contributed £250,000 in November 1987 in the context of that appeal.
The 1988 harvest was good and food aid requirements were low. The 1989 harvest, as I have indicated, has been very poor in many areas and available supplies within Ethiopia are currently at dangerously low levels, although they are being built up as rapidly as possible as aid agencies obtain funds and send supplies. Progress cannot yet be reported on providing access by the most effective routes to the estimated two million people at risk in Tigre. Some supplies are getting through via the Sudan and surplus grains in areas which had better harvests are being purchased for deficit areas. Neither of these sources is capable of providing the quantities which will be needed from early 1990.
So far, there are reports of only limited numbers of people migrating in search of food but I regret to say that these numbers appear to be increasing. The disruption to normal livelihoods and to the fragile farming systems and commerce caused by migration, the dangers of disease in crowded conditions, the extra costs of relief operations where shelter, water supplies etc. have to be provided as well as food, all of these arise with the formation of large-scale camps. I earnestly hope that these dangers can be avoided.
I would like now to outline to the Seanad what has been done to date by the Government bilaterally and as part of the Community. On 7 November last, I allocated the funds requested in response to an appeal from Trócaire on behalf of REST, the Relief Society of Tigre, for £50,000 for the purchase of food in parts of Tigre which had a good crop this year for distribution in deficit areas. This type of relief operation is very useful in that it provides a market for surpluses where they occur and generally involves transportation over distances which can be measured at most in hundreds rather than thousands of miles. Unfortunately, such surpluses are limited. Within Tigre — which is about the size of Ireland — available supplies are estimated at about 50,000 tonnes and about one-sixth of requirements there.
On Tuesday of this week, I allocated a further £250,000 for Ethiopian relief in the light of a series of applications made by agencies between 24 November and 4 December. This amount includes £20,000 for the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) for a programme of assistance for 30,000 Sudanese children in Ethiopia. The allocation also included £45,000 for the purchase of a truck, trailer and spares for Christian Aid on behalf of the Eritrean Relief Association which is running a major operation to bring supplies from Port Sudan to Eritrea. A further £50,000 has been allocated to Oxfam in Ireland. As Senators are aware, Oxfam is involved in several parts of Ethiopia. It is bringing in supplies by sea and also buying sorghum in western Sudan near to the Ethiopian border for distribution in Ethiopia. I have allocated £60,000 to Concern towards a programme including the delivery of a supply ship to Ethiopia and the relief operation in Wallaita Province in Southern Ethiopia. The Irish Red Cross has been allocated £35,000 in respect of the League of Red Cross in Red Crescent Societies' appeal for aid to help 300,000 people in Northern and Southern Ethiopia. Finally, GOAL has been allocated £40,000 in respect of a consignment of high energy biscuits which it has purchased for delivery to Ethiopia.
The amounts provided constitute a very substantial response from the Government, bringing total famine relief aid to Ethiopia to £300,000 for this year. This is in addition to £150,000 provided earlier in the year for medical supplies and logistics to help combat the meningitis epidemic which hit Ethiopia earlier this year.
As a member of the European Community, Ireland has contributed its share of some £25 million worth of European Community emergency food aid for Ethiopia in 1989. The Community has been among the first to respond to the needs arising from the failure of the 1989 harvest and Ireland will continue to support the allocation of further supplies as required.
On the political side, as the scale of potential food shortages in Tigre and the consequent need for additional supply routes became apparent in November, the Community representatives, along with other donors in Addis Ababa, asked the Ethiopian Government to agree to the opening of supply routes along the main roads. This has not as yet met with a favourable response.
The situation has been discussed by Community Ministers on a number of occasions and a further effort to persuade the Ethiopian authorities to change their minds is currently being arranged. The Minister for Foreign Affairs has conveyed a request to the Soviet Government seeking their assistance in relation to the appeal from aid agencies that the Ethiopian Government permit emergency and other supplies to get through to the areas threatened by famine. Other European Governments have done likewise.
At the OECD Development Assistance Committee high level meeting in Paris earlier this week Ireland, with other delegations, pressed the group to do everything they could to get supplies into Ethiopia. It has to be said that the Ethiopian Government is not convinced that the situation in Tigre is as serious as international reports suggest. It has stressed the military considerations involved for them in dealing with rebel forces, understood to be within 100 miles of Addis Ababa.
The Government hope the Ethiopian authorities will change their minds and they will do all they can to help. However, it should be understood that in addition to public démarches, much patient, low-profile work by representatives on the ground is going on, and will be important in achieving results.
I wish to conclude by making a brief comparison with the situation in 1984. The harvest failure in that year affected about seven million people in Ethiopia. It was the third successive year of crop failure and the population was already destitute. The Ethiopian Government, donor agencies and NGOs had very limited structures for identifying needs and delivering aid as compared with the situation now. The Government's Relief and Rehabilitation Commission has good information and delivery systems supplemented by those of donor agencies in areas where it has access. The Eritreans and Tigreans have parallel structures in their own areas.
Development work, to improve the capacity of the country to provide food for itself has made some impact since 1984. However, it must be remembered that Ethiopia is a desperately poor and underdeveloped country, torn by internal conflict and that it will take many years for it to recover from the effects of land degradation and erosion and to develop a modern economy.
In making these comparisons, I wish to make clear that I do not wish to minimise the present situation — it is very serious and potentially catastrophic — but I believe that if it is taken very seriously by everyone at this stage results can be achieved much more quickly than in 1984-85.