Banana Tree Could Feed the Hungry

The author talks about a crop that is closely related to the banana, which he believes is the solution to the impending drought in northern Ethiopia and most parts of Africa. While there is very little known about the Ensete Ventricosum, as it is called, historians believe it was grown for domestic purposes between 5000-10000 years ago.

Steven Brandt brings the idea of donor funding in fighting drought, using a more practical and long-term approach. In the previous paragraphs, he explains the reasons why Enset’s popularity reduced over the years, and how it solved the then-existing famine problem in the northern parts of Ethiopia. He further outlines investments on social anthropologists, agronomists, and historians, who are to test the feasibility of the crop in Northern Ethiopia. To achieve this, with a long-term famine solution in mind, Brandt shows the involvement of in funding the project to its success.

The reason behind this is to show the correlation between donor-funding in curbing drought in African countries, and food security in the affected regions, in this case, Ethiopia.