Free Download: Ethiopian Family Struggles Against Climate Change
NEWS STORY: Tomm Kristiansen UPDATED: December 11, 2009
When the Rains Fail, Ethiopia’s struggle against climate change.
PHOTO: Anne Mousten; Remote Grafik; Mikkel Østergaard and Malene Haakansson
PHOTO: Anne Mousten; Remote Grafik; Mikkel Østergaard and Malene Haakansson
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND — First the rain came too early. Later, when the crops needed water, there was not a single drop. Then, suddenly, the rain came. And then came the frost. That is how the season was for a peasant farmer in Ethiopia. Former ACT worker Malene Haakanson has followed an Ethiopian family, and in her new book When the Rains Fail she portrays their struggle through the course of one year. The book is now available for free download.
Climate change in Africa is about the survival of millions of poor people. The temperature is rising and the rain no longer falls as it used to. Farmers and pastoralists who are already living at the edge of life are finding it even harder to simply get by: their harvests fail, their animals die of thirst and hunger and their land is flooded.
This is the reality of Ethiopia, one of the world’s poorest countries. In When the Rains Fail, Malene Haakansson gives an up to date insight into the problems climate change is causing in Ethiopia, and she gives a poor Ethiopian family a voice in the climate debate. What do they know, feel and think about the changing climate? We are introduced to Kassa’s family in the Ethiopian highlands and follow their struggle against the changed climate over the course of 2008/2009.
Exctract from the book
“Back at Kassa’s house sits three white sacks filled with wheat and barley. Kassa is visibly relieved that the harvest hasn’t gone as badly as he had feared in October when I last visited. Then, Kassa’s crops hadn’t yet matured and were desperately in need of more rain but the main rainy season had ended prematurely by the end of August. Quite unexpectedly it began to rain again in November so the crops did get the water they needed. Because this rain came so late and disrupted the maturation process Kassa’s crops were hit by frost; something to be expected at the end of November. In spite of this, the frost hasn’t destroyed the entire harvest.
I ask Kassa what he intends to do when the three white sacks of harvested grain run out in seven months.
'It is up to God to decide what happens in the future. I pray to my God for help,' he replies.
I have trouble understanding how he can take it so calmly. How can a prayer help him put food on the table? On the other hand, Kassa’s family is accustomed to struggling for food and making what they have last for as long as possible. Accustomed to the fact that there is little they can do to improve their situation other than pray.”
The author
Malene Haakansson, a graduate of The Danish School of Journalism, joined ACT member DanChurchAid in 2003. She worked in documentation and advocacy before travelling to Ethiopia in 2008 as an advocacy and documentation officer. Her first book was Nobody wants to die unheard – voices from Darfur.
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