Hit hard by drought, Ethiopia pleads for aid
In 1984 famine-ravaged Ethiopia caught the attention of western music stars who garnered an outpouring of western aid and goodwill with fundraisers like “USA for Africa.” Twenty-five years later, Ethiopia is again on the brink of disaster. A prolonged drought is devastating harvests and grazing land across swathes of East Africa. On Thursday Ethiopia’s government told aid donors it needs emergency food supplies for more than 6 million people. We talk to the BBC’s Will Ross from Kenya, where the drought is also threatening lives and livelihoods, and Jeffrey Sachs, director of the Earth Institute at Columbia University.
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