The 'Biblical' famine
What was the cause of the 1983-85 famine in Ethiopia Figure 1: Bob Geldof in Ethiopia at the forefront of a new celebrity fundraising effort, sparked by the BBC’s report on Ethiopia’s famine. Source: The Guardian Contrary to the what the papers and aid commercials reported about the Ethiopian famine, the ‘Biblical’ famine was not simply due to a drought and a late rainy season but rather do due a combination of natural and man-made factors. The components being drought, environmental deterioration such as soil erosion, population growth, underinvestment in agriculture, government policies and civil war . Whist drought is the main cause of famine the Ethiopian civil war and governmental politics played a significant role. In 1974 the overthrowing of emperor Haile Selassie was overthrown and a new military group called the Derg began to run the country. Whilst this happened in 1974 about ten years before the famine it is important to note how political instability can impa...