The Untold Story: Famine Avoided

NAIROBI, Kenya, November 4, 2011 -

Anti-poverty campaign group ONE today launched a new short film about the food crisis in the Horn of Africa as part of its Hungry No More campaign. The films, which are the result of a unique collaboration with the African production company A24 Media, focus on the untold story of the food crisis that is gripping the region.

The project was led by Salim Amin, Chairman of A24 Media and son of Mo Amin, the Kenyan photojournalist known for his remarkable footage of the Ethiopian famine in the 1980s.

Salim and his film crew travelled to Tigray in Ethiopia, the place hardest hit by the 1984 famine and the place his father captured his best known footage.

What Salim found was a situation in stark contrast to the images his father captured. Long-term investments by governments, donors and local communities have allowed the community to develop agricultural programmes that are resilient to drought and help create a path out of poverty.

Salim Amin commented:

“While the effect of drought are being felt acutely in parts of the Horn of Africa, what we found when we made these films would have delighted my father. Starvation no longer stalks the inhabitants of the very areas that were hit hardest in the famine of the 1980s. Instead we found green fields full and healthy, well-fed children.”

Jamie Drummond, Executive Director at ONE, added:

“These films show why smart aid for African agriculture can be so transformative and lifesaving, and why the G20 must not shirk their wider responsibilities this week in Cannes even while they dealing with the crisis in the Eurozone.

“Ethiopia, once a basket case, is now consistently one of Africa’s strongest economic performers. This growth is underpinned by progress in agriculture and food security. There are still too many people in Ethiopia are poor and hungry, but malnutrition has halved in the last two decades. That significant progress now needs to be replicated across Africa.”

Notes to editors:

1. The film can be viewed here: www.a24media.com/ and www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iri9Y4A5YfI

2. For media enquires please contact Katie Martin at ONE (katie.martin@one.org or +44-7500-797599), or Daniel Furnad at A24 Media (daniel@a24media.com or +254-723-686315)

3. ONE is a global advocacy and campaigning organization backed by more than 2.5 million people from around the world dedicated to fighting extreme poverty and preventable disease, particularly in Africa. For more information please visit www.ONE.org

4. A24 Media facilitates Africans communicating with each other about solutions to their problems.  A24 Media concentrates on stories that show Africans as individuals with dignity, creativity, resourcefulness and hope, working toward building a better future for their communities and themselves.  For more information go to: www.a24media.com/whatsyourstory/healthcare/one-international-a24-media-hope-in-ethiopia

5. ONE’s Hungry No More campaign is calling for the G8, G20, and African governments to:

   - Urgently fill the $600m financing gap for emergency assistance in the Horn of Africa and ensure that all those in need are reached. In the case of Somalia, greater regional and international political will is required to support an inclusive multi-stakeholder process - including a prominent voice for Somali civil society - that conclusively addresses the underlying causes of insecurity.

   - To live up to their 2009 L’Aquila commitment to invest $22 billion in agriculture and for African governments to fulfill their Maputo pledge to spend 10% of their national budgets on agriculture.

   - Invest in longer-term agriculture and food security initiatives to stop the cycle of extreme hunger, such as the Global Agriculture and Food Security Programme.

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