Overpopulation is the cause of this year’s famine in South Sudan. Famine is always happening in Africa. Domestic issues are more important than providing aid to other countries. And why give money when people in the developing world should simply help themselves?
Such are some of the common sentiments expressed on social media regarding the food crisis facing some 20 million people across east and central Africa, acording to a new investigation from Plan International Australia.
The investigation looked at comments left by people on 100 news reports surrounding Africa’s food crisis posted on the Facebook pages of Australian and international news organisations over the period from March to June. From the comments seen, the investigators compiled a list of eight common themes shown in the negative comments.
The most common theme was that “Overpopulation is the cause of the famine” followed by “Domestic issues are more important than providing aid to other countries”, “The money never arrives to those who need it”, “Famine is always happening in Africa” and “People affected by famine deserve it”.
At number six was ‘Why give money when people in the developing world should simply help themselves?’ followed by ‘Providing humanitarian aid indentures people into poverty’ with ‘Islam is to blame for the crisis’ rounding out the top eight most common themes.
Ian Wishart, CEO of Plan International Australia, says compassion fatigue and negative views of the crisis are not harmless and could hinder the ability of humanitarian agencies to respond.
“We’re currently responding to a very serious crisis in the eastern part of Africa that may rival the terrible 1983 Ethiopian famine in scale and severity, yet apathy and negativity about this emergency is widespread,” he said. “Negative attitudes about famine aren’t usually driven by a sense of animosity towards other people, but rather misunderstanding the complexities of famine and humanitarian aid.”
He said the most prevalent attitude – that overpopulation is responsible for the crisis – “simply isn’t true” and that the perception that people facing the food crisis are “passive recipients of aid looking for a handout” is an “unfair stereotype”.
“The resilience and fortitude of people caught up in famine to cope in unthinkable circumstances is remarkable. They do everything they can to help themselves and their families in very difficult conditions.”
Mr Wishart said the organisation concluded that the negative perceptions of the crisis stem from “incorrect stereotypes about Africa and very occasionally, unkindness”.
While some parts of the north of South Sudan were declared in famine earlier this year, that crisis has now abated somewhat but 1.7 million people in the greater region are still suffering famine-like conditions. The overall number of food insecure people in South Sudan has grown to six million – about half of the population – while there remain concerns that other parts of South Sudan as well as parts of Nigeria, Yemen, and Somalia may yet face famine with around 20 million people in East Africa suffering hunger.
