Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
funding went mainly to Burkina Faso, Ethiopia and
the province of Eritrea, and Sudan. The largest sum
was for $US2.25 million for a UNICEF program to
immunize children, and the smallest was for $US3000
to maintain water pumps in refugee camps in eastern
Sudan.
All these efforts had their critics. Many argued that
Geldof's fundraising efforts were siphoning money that
would have gone to legitimate aid organizations.
Geldof always contended that the efforts were raising
the level of consciousness amongst ordinary people.
In fact, following the Live Aid concert, donations to
Oxfam and Save the Children increased 200 per cent
and 300 per cent, respectively. Geldof foresaw criti-
cism that he might personally profit from his fundrais-
ing activities and refused to use one cent of the money
for administration or personal gain. All work had to be
voluntary, using equipment, materials, labor and fares
that had been donated free and with no strings
attached.
Of all the international relief programs, Bob
Geldof's has been the most successful at pricking the
consciences of individuals worldwide - regardless of
their political ideology. Initially he tapped the music
industry for support, but has shown that the methods
for raising aid, with involvement of people from all
walks of life, are almost endless. Geldof's program of
raising money and distributing funds without any
significant administration costs is one of the most suc-
cessful and efficient ever, putting to shame the efforts
of individual countries and the United Nations. The
euphoria of Band Aid and Live Aid has not worn off;
however, Geldof saw them as temporary measures. At
the end of 1986, the Band Aid umbrella organization
was wound up and converted to a standing committee.
Donations are now being channeled, through this com-
mittee, to permanently established aid organizations.
Since Ethiopia, there has been no other calamitous
drought, no need for an international response, no
testing of the First World's capacity for altruism in the
face of a Third World disaster. Since the Ethiopian
drought, communism has fallen, sectarianism has
formally fragmented nations, greed has overwhelmed
capitalistic economies, and terrorism has permeated
the voids opened by poverty, disenfranchisement and
failed nationalism. The inevitable specter of calamitous
drought will rise again to challenge the sincerity of
the ideals that Bob Geldof - for one brief moment -
established in response.
CONCLUDING COMMENTS
The effects of drought go far beyond the immediate
crisis years when communities and nations are trying
to survive physically, socially and economically. Of all
hazards, drought has the greatest impact beyond the
period of its occurrence. This does not necessarily
affect population growth. For instance, while many
Sahelian countries suffered appalling death tolls in
the 1968-1974 drought, high birth rates of 3 per cent
ensured that populations had grown to pre-drought
levels within 10-13 years. However, the population
was skewed, with the number of children under the
age of 18 making up 50 per cent of the population in
some countries. Such a young population taxes
medical and school facilities and overwhelms
economic development. Unless exploited, such
numbers of young people do not contribute directly
to the labor force or to a nation's economic growth.
In addition, survivors of droughts can weigh down
family units and community groups with an excessive
number of invalids, especially amongst the young.
Many of the diseases that afflict malnourished
children can lead to permanent intellectual and
physical impairment. Malnourished children who
survive a drought may never overcome their malnu-
trition, especially if they are orphaned, have many
siblings, exist within a family unit that cannot recover
economically from the drought, or are displaced
from home areas where kinship ties can traditionally
provide support.
Additionally, droughts pose difficult problems in
recovery. If seed stock is consumed, it must be
imported quickly to ensure that a country can re-
establish the ability to feed itself. While many people
migrate out of drought areas to towns where food
can be more easily obtained, the transport infra-
structure is not adequate to ship seed into isolated
rural areas when these people return home. A similar
situation applies to livestock. During major droughts,
even in developed countries such as Australia,
breeding stock may either perish or be used for food.
Livestock herds require several years to be rebuilt, a
process that can put a heavy financial strain upon
a farm's resources because this period of rebuilding
generates little income. In the longer term, droughts
are often accompanied by human-induced or natural
land degradation. Rangeland may be overgrazed
during a drought to keep livestock herds alive, and in
