For decades, the lands of the Horn of Africa States region have been kept in a state of artificial dormancy, despite being capable, if worked, of feeding more than the current 170 million population of the region. It is, indeed, an irony when such a region, being a goldmine of agricultural potential, is led by a class of people who were sourced through international NGOs and humanitarian ecosystems. They know no better than waiting on the breadlines of international donors instead of developing their own lands. This aid industry which has taken over the region is a sophisticated process, which has effectively replaced sovereign leadership with a class of professional beggars.

When a person’s entire worldview is shaped by grant proposals and feasibility studies, they lose the ability to see a field of soil as anything but a site of future distribution center for food aid. They were hired because they served the NGO industry, speaking he language of the donor and not the language of the Horn African farmer. No wonder one sees them running to the Gulf countries when things get more difficult with the traditional Western donors. The disruption of USAID, once the primary benefactor for many NGOs, has forced a shift in the humanitarian landscape. This funding gap has led many leaders to seek support from Gulf nations, often finding themselves in newfound dependencies.

Obviously, the region’s........

© Eurasia Review