Food shortage reaches alarming levels in Ethiopia – UN

September 8, 2008 (UNITED NATIONS) — The food shortage in Ethiopia has reached alarming levels in the wake of drought conditions throughout much of the Horn of Africa country, the United Nations warned Monday.

Around 4.6 million people in Ethiopia are need of food aid due to a combination of drought and high food prices, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported.

UN humanitarian chief John Holmes, who visited drought areas in Ethiopia last week stated that it was clear “the crisis remains very severe, and the numbers of people affected are continuing to rise.”

“Ethiopia presents a glaring example of the challenges posed by rising food prices,” Holmes further said.

Successive droughts have resulted in a drop in crop production that in turn have led to a surge in food prices – up to 500 per cent in some parts of the country – over the past year. The southeast has been particularly hard hit.

Although a $325 million humanitarian appeal launched for Ethiopia in June has been “reasonably well funded” at over 60 per cent, Mr. Holmes urged donors to contribute more for the next few months to help alleviate the situation.

Ethiopian government issued reassuring statements saying situation is under control. But opposition retorted that “claims from the government are not more than a simple psychological games targeted to calm down the public fears and avoid any further panic.”

The UN World Food Programme (WFP) said it needs $136 million worth of food for its operations in Ethiopia.

Also, the UN said today that flooding in Ethiopia’s south-western Gambella region displaced nearly 35,000 people, and destroyed thousands of hectares of crop land.

OCHA has warned of increasing health threats among the displaced, especially malaria, diarrhoeal disease and respiratory infections, noting that water shortages are contributing to the risks of getting sick.

(ST)