Ethiopia: The Use of Food as an Instrument of U.S. Foreign Policy

Abstract

In December, 1980, John Block, the Illinois farmer selected by Ronald Reagan as his new Secretary of Agriculture, told reporters: “I believe food is the greatest weapon we have for keeping peace in the world.” Mr. Block envisioned America shipping its agricultural surpluses to hungry nations in return for “more stability in the world.”

Idle Hands Are The Devil's Tools: The Geopolitics and Geoeconomics of Hunger

“…Several investigations of the Ethiopian food aid distribution system encountered only minimal corruption and no evidence that aid was being resold to fund arms purchases, though de Waal (1991,1997) detailed quite clearly the inaccuracy of this assessment. U.S. aid to Ethiopia remained tied to geopolitical and military strategy, with emergency aid authorized by Congress for Ethiopia in 1984 including an amendment that sent millions of dollars for military aid to anticommunist forces in El Salvador and Nicaragua (Shepherd 1985).…”

“…During the early 1970s, and again in the early to mid-1980s, Ethiopia experienced prolonged drought, meager harvests, and severe widespread hunger. The famine of 1972 through 1974 resulted in the overthrow of Emperor Haile Selassie, followed by several years of infighting until a Marxist-Leninist government friendly to the Soviet Union was cobbled together under the leadership of Mengistu Haile Mariam in 1977 (Shepherd 1985). Although this government made gains in literacy and health services and operated an efficient system of rural feeding centers, it also prioritized arms deals with the Soviets to fuel wars against neighboring Somalia and rebels in the country's north over rural development and agricultural production improvements.…”

“…Within the domestic politics of U.S. food aid policy, the Reagan administration led conservative forces seeking to cut aid generally, viewing it as wasteful at best and at worst as potential assistance to America's ideological enemies. Such was the case presented against American aid to Ethiopia, as many feared that aid delivered would not be distributed to the hungry but would pay for Soviet arms shipments instead (Shepherd 1985). 5 By mid-1985, however, the United States was sending hundreds of millions of dollars in food aid to Ethiopia, although this bilateral aid came at the expense of U.S. assistance to multilateral agencies, such as the WFP and even the World Bank, working in Ethiopia and elsewhere in Africa, and signaled the development of "a strictly American initiative toward Africa based on free-market and growth-oriented policies" (Shepherd 1985, 8).…”

“…Such was the case presented against American aid to Ethiopia, as many feared that aid delivered would not be distributed to the hungry but would pay for Soviet arms shipments instead (Shepherd 1985). 5 By mid-1985, however, the United States was sending hundreds of millions of dollars in food aid to Ethiopia, although this bilateral aid came at the expense of U.S. assistance to multilateral agencies, such as the WFP and even the World Bank, working in Ethiopia and elsewhere in Africa, and signaled the development of "a strictly American initiative toward Africa based on free-market and growth-oriented policies" (Shepherd 1985, 8). de Waal (1991 noted that after 1985, the United States briefly became Ethiopia's largest aid donor, although virtually all such aid was routed through NGOs rather than through the Ethiopian government due to legal restrictions on providing aid to countries that nationalize U.S.-owned assets.…”

A Pragmatic Response to an Unexpected Constraint: Problem Representation in a Complex Humanitarian Emergency

“…14 14 For literature on the Ethiopian famine of the mid 1980s, see Meszoly 1984; Shepherd 1985; Clay and Holcomb 1986; Gill 1986; Korn 1986; Connell 1987; Smith 1987; Bosso 1989; Clay 1989; Cuny 1989; Shepherd 1989; Varnis 1990; Clay 1991; Solberg 1991; Duffield and Prendergast 1994; Hendrie 1994; Kissi 1997; and Callan 2000. …”