Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
Box 5.3 EWS in Ethiopia
Ethiopia has long suffered droughts and famines, but two in recent history
spurred the development of EWS. In 1973-1974, approximately 200,000
people died in Ethiopia compared to 1983-1985 which might have killed two
to fi ve times as many people. Political pressure from the fi rst disaster led to
the establishment of an Ethiopian government commission that tried to con-
solidate information from various government agencies into a warning system
regarding the country's food situation. Inhibiting factors included poor infor-
mation, weak institutional collaboration, and unclear indicators for issuing a
warning (Metcalf et al. 1989 ). After the second disaster, the US government
created the Famine Early Warning System (FEWS) which even today focuses
mainly (although not exclusively) on Africa, in order 'to provide timely and
rigorous early warning and vulnerability information on emerging and evolv-
ing food security issues' ( http://www.fews.net/ml/en/info/Pages/default.
aspx?l=en ) .
As technology has evolved, EWS have evolved. Remote areas could originally
be reached immediately only via radio or satellite phone. Now, mobile phone cover-
age permits text messages—or even audio or video fi les with warnings, especially
to target populations with less literacy—to reach large swathes of the Earth's land.
New products are being developed which automatically identify any mobile phones
in a location and send a geographic-specifi c warning to those within a certain
boundary. The importance of these developments needs to be balanced with the
challenges for those who cannot afford mobile phones, those in areas without cover-
age, and areas where infrastructure maintenance is not reliable. Technological
developments are important for EWS, but the latest technology cannot be assumed
to be omnipresent, reliable, accessible, or affordable. As stated above, the technical
aspect of EWS should always be placed in its social contexts.
When examining the structure and function of an EWS, further discussion is
required regarding both the hazard and vulnerability factors. One hazard factor is
the frequency of the hazards about which the EWS warns. A misunderstanding
about EWS is that they exist to be activated only when a hazard manifests. According
to this myth, the EWS is not needed during periods without the hazard; EWS have
nothing that they should or could be doing. The reality is that the EWS should
remain an active part of the community at all times. It can be used to educate people
about hazards and vulnerabilities, for training about disaster risk reduction and
disaster response, to run drills, to gather baseline data, and to further map and update
a community's hazards, vulnerabilities, and risks. That is part of the social process
of EWS. Similarly, those involved in operating an EWS can approach the media and
other sectors of society to enquire how to make the system more effective, what
people's changing needs are, and how to keep the EWS as part of the community
consciousness, irrespective of hazard frequency.
 
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