Ethiopia faces cut in food relief because of funding shortfall: WFP

By JONATHAN FOWLER, Associated Press Writer

GENEVA, Dec 7, 2004 (AP) — The U.N. food agency said Tuesday it will have to cut relief to tens of thousands of refugees in Ethiopia unless donors come forward with more funding.

The World Food Program urgently needs US$4.2 million (A?3.13 million) to feed 118,000 people in the Horn of Africa nation over the coming six months, said spokesman Simon Pluess.

Most have been in camps in Ethiopia for years _ and even decades _ after fleeing conflict in neighboring Sudan, Somalia and Eritrea.

“The refugees in the camps depend almost entirely on food assistance,” Pluess told reporters. “To become self-reliant in these very arid, desert-like regions is difficult. Income-generating activities and access to arable land to cultivate are almost impossible.”

When refugees try to forage for food around the camps, this stokes tension with Ethiopian communities who are suffering from four years of drought, Pluess said.

The food shortage also could delay efforts to help several thousand Somali refugees go home.

“WFP would simply not be able to provide repatriation food packages prior to their departure,” Pluess said.

“It’s always a question of donor commitment,” as governments tend to focus funding on high-profile humanitarian crises, Pluess said.

WFP also runs separate food aid programs for Ethiopian residents. Pluess said the agency, which this year is helping 4 million residents, will likely have to continue giving food aid to 3.8 million of those in 2005. Ethiopia’s population is around 66 million.

WFP also is worried by neighboring Eritrea, where it is helping almost a quarter of the country’s 4.3 million people.

“It currently faces a near complete crop failure,” Pluess said. “Two thirds of population are unable to meet their daily food needs.”

Some 19 percent of the Eritrean population is suffering from acute malnutrition, said Pluess, adding that “15 percent is considered an emergency situation.”