Ethiopia: Weather Shocks, Conflict-Related Tensions Sustain High Food Assistance Needs Across Ethiopia: Fews Net

4 August 2025
Addis Standard (Addis Ababa)

Acute food insecurity remains widespread across Ethiopia, driven by a combination of weather-related shocks, failed seasonal rains, and the lingering impacts of conflict, according to the latest update by the Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET).

Despite earlier projections of modest improvements in food security following the anticipated 2024 meher harvest, millions of people - particularly in Tigray, Amhara, Afar, and drought-affected areas of Somali and Oromia regions - remain in IPC Phase 3 (Crisis) or worse. The ongoing lean season has pushed food assistance needs to peak levels, which are expected to remain elevated through late 2025.

The report highlights severe agricultural losses resulting from the failure of belgrains in central and eastern Oromia, southern Tigray, and eastern Amhara, where crop production has fallen to just 10% and 26% of the average in Tigray and Amhara, respectively.

In Afar and northern Somali, prolonged drought conditions due to the failure of early rains have led to deteriorating livestock health, widespread water shortages, and early displacement of pastoralist communities.

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Compounding the humanitarian crisis, FEWS NET notes that in July, over 2,000 households were displaced in Afar following a series of natural disasters, including the Afdera windstorm, a volcanic eruption in Erta Ale, and a fire outbreak in Dallole. These events have placed additional strain on already overstretched humanitarian operations.

Although the national meher harvest, expected between September and October, may offer brief relief, its impact is likely to be limited. A delayed rainy season has disrupted land preparation and planting in major crop-producing areas. While forecasts suggest above-average cumulative rainfall may support some short-cycle crops, the failure of long-maturing varieties is expected to depress overall yields.

Ongoing insecurity, particularly in Amhara and parts of Tigray, continues to restrict humanitarian access and disrupt local markets. These challenges are further compounded by fuel shortages, steep currency depreciation, and surging diesel prices - factors that are collectively driving food price inflation and hampering the delivery of aid.

Weather shocks continue to affect regions across Ethiopia, with the latest drought in Central Tigray's Kolla Tembien district highlighting a deepening crisis; in Yaqer locality alone, over 18,000 livestock have died and hundreds of hectares of farmland have failed, raising fears of famine in a region still recovering from the impacts of war.

Furthermore, severe drought in Ethiopia's Amhara region is affecting tens of thousands in Central and South Gondar, with over 32,000 people in West Belesa facing acute food shortages, 3,000 hectares of crops damaged, and more than 1,200 livestock deaths since May.

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