From: Berhane Habtemariam (Berhane.Habtemariam@gmx.de)
Date: Fri Oct 10 2008 - 08:28:02 EDT
'Ethiopia On Brink Of Starvation'
10.0.2008
Oxfam has made an urgent appeal for more aid to help millions of Ethiopians on the brink of starvation.
The call comes with the Ethiopian government set to announce the number of people in need of emergency assistance has leapt from 4.6 million to 6.4 million since June.
Oxfam called on rich countries to redouble the aid effort to avert disaster.
According to the UN, there is a £150m funding shortfall for the next six months.
While the numbers in need of help have risen, not enough food is reaching the country and monthly cereal rations have been cut by a third.
Another 7.2 million Ethiopians already receive cash or food aid each year under the government's Productive Safety Net Programme (PSNP).
Oxfam's country director Waleed Rauf said: "Today's figures, terrible as they are, show only half the picture.
"Over 13.5 million Ethiopians are in need of aid in order to survive."
He continued: "Compared with the funds going to shore up the global financial system, the aid needed to save lives in Ethiopia is a drop in the ocean."
Non-governmental organisations say the figure for those in need is a conservative one, with the real number likely to be more than eight million.
The situation is particularly bad for pastoralist communities in the Afar and Somali regions, which have experienced poor rains.
Those communities rely on goats to produce milk and butter for essential sustenance and to trade for foodstuffs and other supplies.
Oxfam said the average loss of livestock is such places is 60% cattle, 50% of goats and 40% of camels.
In Somali's Liben district, two to three children are dying every day of malnutrition, according to the UN.
----[This List to be used for Eritrea Related News Only]----