Addis Ababa, Ethiopia – The number of Ethiopians requiring relief food assistance in 2011 has increased by 500,000 from a November figure of 2.3 million, the Ethiopian government announced Monday. However, that 2.8 million people would need food relief assistance in 2011 means a significant decline, almost by half, from January’s 5.2 million figure in 2010.

The improvement in food security in most parts of the country is due to favourable weather conditions in 2010 and government efforts, said Mitiku Kassa, deputy Agriculture Minister for Disaster Risk Management and Food Security, on February 7 while briefing donors and journalists.

In January 2010, Ethiopia announced that 5.2 million people needed food aid. This had gone down to 2.3 million in November before it climbed to 2.8 million in the latest Humanitarian Requirement assessment by government and international aid agencies. 

Despite the very good rain in Ethiopia's second rainy season in 2010 in some parts of the country that improved food security, deteriorating rain in other parts had caused water and pasture shortages, according to the document.

“... a number of pocket areas would continue experiencing food insecurity this year too due to slow recovery from effects of past disasters, erratic rainfall, excessive rains and flooding,” Mitiku said.

Among the 2.8 million people, some 107,000 children need treatment for severe malnutrition, Eugene Owusu, United Nations humanitarian coordinator in Ethiopia, said during the announcement of the relief assistance requirement for the current year.

The second rainy season in Ethiopia – October to December – have suffered failures mainly in the arid areas in the country’s Somali region in the east and the southeast of Oromia region are expected to affect the population significantly, according to Owusu.

The Somali region has been the scene of clashes between government forces and the Ogaden National Liberation Front rebel group, which claims is fighting for independence for the people of the Ogaden.

Ethiopia, sub-Saharan Africa’s second-most populous nation after Nigeria and the continent’s top coffee producer, has another 7.8 million people who receive food or cash under the Productive Safety Net Programme, Mitiku said. The programme is financed by donors including the US, the European Union, the World Bank and the UK.

Ethiopia is one of the largest recipients of humanitarian aid in the world. Last year, it received over 700,000 metric tonnes of food and about US$ 30 million non-food aid. It is also among the largest recipients of development aid, getting as much as US$ 3 billion in 2008 alone, mainly from the US and UK.

Pana 08/02/2011