That is precisely what President Negaso Gidada is now encouraging his country to do. To prosper and avert a calamity like that of the early '80s, Ethiopia must get to work immediately on prevention. Before the next drought hits, experts say, there must be an increase in development assistance, investment in public services, and economic diversification. Only 1 child in 3 goes to school, and life expectancy is just 51 years. The southeast is even worse off, partly because of its harsh environment and the nomadic lifestyle, but also because the government and international donors have neglected it.
Roads are terrible.
The school system is virtually nonexistent. During the height of the drought, people weren't just dying of thirst - it was also from lack of assets to buy food. Three successive years of poor rains meant dwindling pasture for livestock. As animals started dying, families were left without the milk that provides the mainstay of their diet and without the money they normally make from selling the cows, sheep, and goats. Ethiopia's attempts at economic growth have been hampered by the global trend of this past decade to reduce development assistance and by the government's pursuit of its border war with neighboring Eritrea.