Coping with The Famine

For the millions of Ethiopians for whom starvation is a constant foe, the stakes in the struggle for control of the country are especially high. So far, the tumult has brought them nothing but misery. Food deliveries to Ethiopia's 7 million drought victims have been disrupted, and in some cases stopped, by the fighting. Supply trucks were attacked and looted, and international relief workers fled. The fall of coastal Assab to Eritrean fighters two weeks ago temporarily closed the city's port on the Red Sea, one of the most important conduits of aid.

The rebel victory, however, may be a blessing for the nation's hungry. In the past, eating or not eating was as much an issue of politics as it was of provisions, since the combatants in the civil war tried to keep supplies from reaching enemy turf. With no more battle lines to cross, help ought to flow more freely now.

The Democratic Front that rules Addis Ababa has assured aid workers that they will be protected. The front also is making efforts to assert control over outlying areas where the government's collapse left citizens without a reliable supply line, for instance in the city of Dire Dawa, in the east. For their part, the Eritrean fighters who have assumed administration of Eritrea province, which includes all the country's ports, promise to allow food to flow freely through their territory.

Aid donors like the U.S. want to focus future relief spending on measures that would make Ethiopians more self-sufficient, such as providing drought- resistant seeds and basic farming implements. If peace prevails in the country, these kinds of programs may succeed, lessening the perpetual threat of starvation.