United Support of Artists for Africa has granted the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC) $150,000 for an agricultural recovery project in the Gondar region of Ethiopia, according to JDC president Heinz Eppler. USA for Africa was founded in 1985 in response to the reports of widespread famine in Ethiopia. It gained immediate prominence with the song and music video, “We Are the World.”
The JDC will use the funds to buy oxen, seeds, and tools that will help farmers regain self-sufficiency. “After so many years of famine,” Eppler said, “thousand of rural families have completely lost their ability to continue farming. They have to start over from scratch, but they have nothing to start with.”
Sylvia Hassenfeld, chairman of the JDC Committee on the Third World, said “Restoring traditional life styles and rebuilding the farmers’ productivity is far more cost-effective than perpetuating the relief syndrome. We are very grateful for USA for Africa’s support, and we look forward to working together to help Ethiopians recover from the horrible effects of drought and famine.”
The project will help about 12,000 families, or 60,000 people, according to JDC executive vice president Ralph Goldman. “All are farmers who were directly affected by the emergency,” he explained. “Either they were displaced from their homes, or they sold their tools and oxen during the worst of the drought to buy food.”
Goldman said the oxen, seeds, fertilizer, and other supplies will be bought in Ethiopia and then distributed in the designated area.
JDC has been providing non-sectarian assistance in the Gondar region since 1983. In addition to the agricultural recovery project, JDC has built a health center in the village of Tedda and is planning a polyclinic in the town of Gondar.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
