UK provides £20mln for Ethiopia’s emergency food
February 27, 2010 (ADDIS ABABA) — The United Kingdom government has provided 20 million pounds in response to Ethiopia’s food assistance appeal.
According to UN relief wing OCHA, the number of people in Ethiopia who will need food assistance this year has risen to 5.2 million, an increase of several hundred thousand from estimates released just two months ago by United Nations relief agencies and the Horn of Africa nation’s Government.
“The emergency funding is being provided in response to the Ethiopian government’s latest humanitarian assessment, which estimates that 5.2 million people urgently need food aid to survive,” said the UK embassy in Ethiopia.
The UK funding will be channeled through the UN World Food Programme, to enable them to purchase and distribute food.
Last year, the government of Ethiopia has appealed the international community for food aids to feed 6.2 million people that it says are in danger of starvation.
The over $300 million appeal aims at delivering food assistance for those in need of emergency food aid.
In January 2010, the British Department for International Development (DFID) announced an additional £200m to continue funding the innovative and successful safety net programme in Ethiopia.
“Alongside providing for people’s immediate needs, DFID is also helping to deliver major improvements in Ethiopia’s health, education, water, agricultural services, and economic growth,” said the embassy.
In the next three to five years, according to the embassy, this funding will help to put 2.8 million more children in school, give 6 million people access to water, and ensure an extra 400,000 children reach their fifth birthday.
The worsening food security situation is attributed to poor rainfall last year, particularly during the February-May and June-October seasons.
The food security situation in Ethiopia had already been weakened last year by poor rains in 2008 and the impact of the high food prices globally.
(ST)