Ethiopia
Food aid reaches 7 million Ethiopians

afrol News, 21 February - In one of the greatest aid operations ever, the government and humanitarian organisations are now distributing emergency aid to 7 million drought victims in Ethiopia. But even more have to be reached when the crisis peaks within a few months, and in Eritrea, the situation remains critical.

In January, the giant aid scheme distributed around 100,000 metric tons of food aid to 7 million drought victims in Ethiopia. This month, the scheme is even to be increased, and according to the World Food Programme (WFP), one expects to reach around 8 million children, women and men all around the country.

- Supporting such a large number of people this early in the year has been possible due to a timely donor response to the drought, WFP explains. A good cooperation with Ethiopian authorities and early warning of an upcoming disaster further had contributed to an early arrival of food aid. The Ethiopian government warned about a possible food crisis already in June last year.

Humanitarian organisations now have been promised the donation of sufficient food to secure the delivery of emergency aid for up to 10 million Ethiopians throughout April. WFP however warns that donors needed to stick to the timetables agreed upon to secure continuance in aid distributions.

The massive effort to distribute food in the drought affected zones of Ethiopia already has proven to have a positive impact. In the heavily affected West Harerge district, for example, new studies had demonstrated that acute malnutrition rates among children under 5 have dropped from 15.2 to 11.2 percent since September. Similarly, severe acute malnutrition rates have dropped from 3.6 percent to under 0.1 percent.

Cereal and supplementary food distributions thus had "stabilised the nutritional situation in many of the worst-affected parts of the country," WFP reports. The UN agency therefore announces that "there are encouraging signs of the food crisis being generally under control." 

Only a short time ago, before donor countries promised to deliver large quantities of food aid, there were serious concerns the Ethiopian drought may develop into a an even greater disaster than in 1984-85, when 1 million people starved to death. A substantially larger number of people are affected by the current drought than in 1984.

The size of the operation also demonstrates the gravity of the emerging disaster. WFP is expecting the crisis to peak by June/July, when at least 11 million Ethiopian will be needing food assistance. The operation will have to continue at least to the end of 2003, when the next harvests are expected - hopefully better than the last years' meagre results.

While WFP is reporting about getting the situation in Ethiopia under control, the crisis in neighbouring Eritrea remains unsettled. Here, two thirds of the country's total population is subject to the worst drought in Eritrea's history, and local heath authorities are reporting a fourfold increase in child malnutrition only during the last months.

In Eritrea, the crisis is enhanced by an almost total crop failure in the entire country. Further, the failing rains have led to a decimation of livestock numbers and an alarming drop in ground water levels. Regarding Eritrea, WFP says there are still missing 200,000 tons of food aid to enable government and organisations to distribute food to the two million drought victims of the country.

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