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When the Rains Fail – Ethiopia’s struggle against climate change

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 harder even 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 a 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 2008/9.

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• Front cover 300.74 kB
• preface-contents 325.04 kB
• It's not fair 223.67 kB
• A Question of Survival 196.84 kB
• What's become of the rain 1.17 MB
• Global warming 607.54 kB

• Ethiopia's climate challenges 314.42 kB
• Food for seven months 639.55 kB
• Climate change means empty stomachs 228.63 kB
• Kassa's family struggle on 632.88 kB
• They don't care about us 492.33 kB
• Ethiopia must declare state of emergency 266.85 kB
• We have no power 771.46 kB
• Our responsibility 128.77 kB
• Thanks 194.88 kB
• Statistics, links and notes 272.71 kB

Exctract from the book

“Back at Kassa’s house sit 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.”