Development Works Number 6, December 2012 | Page 4

again in November 2010. A Dangerous Delay argues that
humanitarian relief would have done more good if donors
and relief organizations had thought in terms of the likelihood and severity of a crisis (as the homeowner mentioned
earlier did when considering gutter repairs).
“It would have been clear from around January 2011,” the
report says, “that the high probability of poor March–May
rains in the Horn of Africa, magnified by the failure of the
previous rains in late 2010, would constitute a critical risk.”

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World Bank/Arne Hoel

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sis, when no one was calling the situation an emergency. Everyday life is perilous for most Somalis. In richer countries,
we often consider disasters an exception to normal life. A
“state of emergency” is declared, help is rushed in, and we
expect that, even after major disasters such as Hurricane
Sandy in 2012, things will return to normal.
In poor countries, where the lines are far more blurred,
thinking of hunger caused by “disaster” as separate from
“normal,” everyday hunger may interfere with the search
for lasting solutions. After all, airlifts of
emergency supplies won’t continue indefiHumanitarian funding for Ethiopia, Somalia, and Kenya, May 2010 to
nitely, but cycles of “disaster” and “normal”
October 2011
may, particularly given climate change.
What’s needed, but not yet in place, is
July 2011: UN declares
a bridge between assistance for emergencies
famine in 2 regions of
February 2011: Further
1.0
30 May: Kenyan
South Central Somalia
warnings: FEWSNET
and sustainable development. U.S. develgovernment
issues alert that poor
0.8
opment assistance should focus on enabling
declares the
rains are foreast for
poor communities to build resilience—
drought a national
March to May
0.6
disaster
equipping and supporting them to develop
0.4
strategies to cope with the many factors be0.2
yond their control. Greater resilience is urgent now and will only grow more urgent.
0.0
USAID took an important step forward in
December 2012 with the launch of its firstever Resiliency Policy.
Source: OCHA Financial Tracking Service
Resilience can, in fact, be built. Ethiopia
is Somalia’s neighbor and its people also suffered greatly during the 2011 drought. But because “buildSouthern Somalia exceeded the U.N. trigger for emering resilience” was already under way, Ethiopian children
gency action—a malnutrition rate of 15 percent—in Audid not die by the thousands, and far fewer people needed
gust 2010, when malnutrition reached 16 percent. By
emergency aid than during the previous drought.
January 2011, it was 25 percent. But funding for relief did
In the intervening years, Ethiopia established a Producnot rise significantly until August 2011, once famine was
tive Safety Net Program, established new health centers
declared.
that enabled many more people to reach nutrition support
As the saying goes, “Hindsight is 20/20.” Donors may
in 2011, and made efforts to help the most vulnerable dihave worried that releasing emergency funding unnecessarversify their ways of earning a living.
ily or prematurely would be worse. (“What if it’s not as bad
U.S. development assistance helped. A Pastoralist Livelias they say, and we look like we’re wasting money?” Or:
hood Initiative project improved livestock survival rates by
“What if we spend the money, and later there’s a real emer10 percent, which made a big difference as families started
gency?”). Decision makers should carefully weigh the deover. Another U.S.-funded project, in Ethiopia’s Oromiya
tails of the early warnings, and the potential consequences
region, gave participants food in exchange for clearing an
of not sending help in time, against these concerns.
access road to the nearest town. The road is making a lastAs the Dangerous Delay report points out, record high
ing difference to the local economy because it cuts the time
malnutrition rates are not the early warning. They are the
to get crops to market from about three days to only half
disaster itself. Not responding quickly means the costs are
a day.
largely borne by children under 2, since even short periods
Development assistance can’t wait for a more conveof malnutrition can cause them long-term damage.
nient time because it is about human beings and our basic
needs—needs that cannot be changed. U.S. development
Where Prevention Really Starts
assistance can help people become well-nourished and resilient, but only if we don’t put off making it available.
Southern Somalia had an acute malnutrition rate of 16
percent—higher among young children—“before” the cri-