Argaw Ashine
22 October 2009
Addis Ababa — Ethiopian Government has appealed for an emergency food aid for 6.2 million people suffering from malnutrition and hunger due to drought.
The Minister for Agriculture and Rural Development, Mr Mitiku Kassa, today presented the government's humanitarian requirement to donor Community in Addis Ababa.
According to Mr Mitiku, Ethiopian needs $121 million worth food aid from the international community for the coming three months.
The children
Mr Mitiku expressed worries about the 40 per cent food aid shortfall that may aggravate the situation, particularly among the children.
Nearly $9 million is needed urgently to save the lives of children and women, he said.
Britain NGO Oxfam said the appeal for food aid coincided with the 25th year's irritating memory of 1984 "great famine", which drew the attention on the international media and humanitarian organisations.
In 1984, hunger killed about 1 million people in Ethiopia, during the Marxist regime of Mengistu Haile Mariam.
The north and eastern parts of Ethiopia were the most affected. Oxfam in its latest report on Ethiopia, says donors should increase investment in building communities' resilience to disasters and alternatives to imported food aid, including investment in local and regional production.
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