From: Yemane Natnael (yemane_natnael@yahoo.com)
Date: Mon Jul 21 2008 - 12:27:30 EDT
UN seeks urgent cash for Ethiopia food aid
Mon 21 Jul 2008, 14:47 GMT
LONDON (Reuters) - The U.N. food agency urgently needs $222 million
to avert a major food crisis in Ethiopia, where millions are struggling
to cope with drought and high prices, it said on Monday.
The Ethiopian government and aid agencies estimate that 4.6 million
people in the Horn of Africa country need emergency food aid to tide
them through to the next harvest in November.
Another 5.7 million who receive food and cash under a regular
welfare programme live in areas where drought is biting and need extra
help.
"Already for some kids ... it's too late, but it's not too late for
many, many other children who need assistance until the next harvest
comes in," said Sonali Wickrema, who designs programmes in Ethiopia for
the U.N. World Food Programme (WFP).
"We want rapid assistance now in order to prevent large-scale and long-term damage," she said.
The Ethiopian government says 75,000 children are already suffering from the most severe form of malnutrition.
The government and aid agencies put out a call in mid-June for $325
million to deal with the failure of the shorter of two rainy seasons
combined with soaring food and fuel costs.
WFP country director Mohamed Diab said donors had only agreed to
provide half of that so far, and urged them to give the rest without
waiting for the emergency to become more acute.
"Given the fragile and critical nutritional situation in the
country, if such resources don't come on time ... we will see the
situation worsening beyond the current level," Diab warned.
He said food aid would take two to three months to arrive in the
country. Due to dwindling stocks, WFP has already cut cereal rations
for July by a third.
High prices and a lack of food supplies in Ethiopia are forcing WFP
to bring in food aid from outside the country, from places such as
South Africa and the Black Sea region.
The agency says the cost of white maize, the staple food for most
poor Ethiopians, has risen more than 150 percent on Ethiopian markets
in the past year, and grain has become so scarce that prices for most
domestically produced cereals are higher than imported supplies.
Aid agencies have warned about similar problems in nearby countries
dealing with the overlap of drought and high global food prices --
Somalia, Kenya, Djibouti and parts of Uganda.
In addition, Ethiopia has used most of its emergency food reserves
to feed around 3 million poor people in urban areas over the past 18
months, according to WFP.
Wickrema said the failure of the March-May rains had begun to cost
lives in Ethiopia. She said WFP did not have an accurate death toll,
but it had probably not yet reached the hundreds.
The longer of the country's two rainy seasons has now started in
some areas, but some aid agencies fear it will not be enough for a good
harvest.
http://africa.reuters.com/top/news/usnBAN156816.html
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