Eritrea’s Food Security: Theory vs Practice
April 8, 2008
By awate.com's Gedab News
The cropping season is not the best time to make predictions on next season’s harvest. An abrupt stoppage in rainfall, pest damage, and locust infestation are some of the reasons that can make bold predictions a hazardous exercise. This is a fact of life for Eritrea’s farmers, but a lesson lost on its government.
Almost every year, Eritrea’s ruling party prematurely announces that it expects a bumper harvest year. And every year, after the harvest season, the facts on the ground contradict the government’s prediction and claims. This year was no exception: indeed, the only thing that changes each year is who the government will blame for the shortage.
Conservatively, Eritrea’s annual cereal grain demand is estimated to be 600,000 metric tons (or 6 million quintals.) Even in the best of times, the government was only able to produce about 25% of the nation’s need—with the deficit accommodated by imports or food aid from donors like FAO, WFP and USAID.
This year, the government not only predicted, relatively speaking, a bumper harvest crop year (3 million quintals), but its political cadres conducted seminars on what they expect to do with the excess. Some claimed that the government was conducting door-to-door campaigns to practically give away the food; others said that Eritrea would begin exporting grains shortly. They gave lectures on what lessons other African nations can learn from Eritrea. But the facts on the ground defy these abstract concepts. This year, Eritrea has not come close to meeting its food needs: and with its hard currency depleted and its relationship with donor organizations strained, it had no choice but to ration and to blame the usual suspects for the hardship.
Food Shortage
Grain cereals are now being sold exclusively at the so-called Fair Shops (“Rt'awi Dukan”), the distribution centers of Red Sea Trading Corporation, or 09 (“Bado T’Shiate”), the financial arm of the ruling party. Taff is being sold at 5,000 Nakfa per quintal (100 kilos), and Meshela is being sold at 1,500 Nakfa per quintal. The ration for a family of five is 10 kilos per month; for families with more than five members, the ration is 15 kilos per month. This has presented a serious hardship to Eritrean families: historically, even a family of modest means needs about 25 kilos per month.
Food prices are increasing all over the world, and the government could have presented the grain shortage in Eritrea as part of a global phenomenon. But old habits die hard: the perpetrators of this shortage are, according to the Eritrean government, greedy merchants and the US government. According to its claims, greedy merchants smuggled out the harvest to Sudan; then, in the Sudan, the US government bought up all the available crops, creating a shortage in Eritrea.
Another Collapsing Partnership?
Over the years, the government has announced, with great fanfare, its partnership with foreign businessmen in the development of an industry—only to have the venture collapse before the enterprise could reach its critical output stage.
Examples of the much-publicized but now-collapsed enterprises include Seawater Farms, a shrimp farm which was joint venture between Arizona’s Seaphire and the PFDJ; the Asmara Flower Farm, a venture with Israeli businessman; the Leda Fisheries, a joint venture with Dutch investors.
Alebu Tomato Factory is a joint venture with Italian businessmen which is supposed to be operational within days. However, given the ruling party’s history with foreign partners, and the saturation of cheap tomatoes in Asmara now, some Eritreans are speculating that perhaps the joint venture with the Italian businessmen may have also collapsed or stalled until the ruling party negotiates better terms. Stay tuned for updates.
Adi Abeito: The Referral Prison
In a previous edition of Gedab News, we had reported on the arrest of Ghile Abraha, an immigration officer who is alleged to have been “corrupt.” Since his arrest, at least twenty traders have been rounded up and detained at Adi Abieto prison.
Adi Abeito is one of the hundreds of detention centers which have sprung up in Eritrea. The two story building generally functions as a holding bin, a “referral jail.” Nearly five hundred prisoners are held there: those who have the resources are able to buy their freedom by paying the penalty fee, which generally ends up in the pockets of a colonel or a general. Those who do not have the means are sent to other prisons, like Track B, an underground prison or, if they are in the military, they are referred to the military units, where they serve their terms. There is no court hearing, no police case and no documentation.
Up And Coming; Down And Out
Arrested: Colonel Tesfaalem Yemane (“Netri”), former Director of Communications for the now-defunct Ministry of Local Government, which used to be headed by Mahmoud Sheriffo. (arrested and unaccounted for since September 18, 2001)
Frozen: Mr. Mehary Tsegai, deputy director of the Central Zone (Zoba Maekel)
Promoted: Mr. Tekie Keleta, to mayorship of Keren. Tekie was the Director General of Infrastructure for the Gash Barka Zone.
Approved for Asylum? Ms. Abeba Yosief, reporter for Eri-TV who defected to Ethiopia, has arrived in the United States.
Source: Awate.com
