Drought-hit Ethiopians face famine
Print Edition
Millions of Ethiopians are in dire need of life-saving aid as their country struggles to cope with its worst drought in 30 years, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon warned yesterday.
At least 10.2 million Ethiopians need food aid, a figure the UN has said could rise sharply, as “forecasts indicate that it could double within months,” casting a fifth of the population into hunger.
Floods and failed rains caused by the El Nino weather phenomenon have sparked a dramatic rise in the number of people going hungry in large parts of Africa, with Ethiopia of special concern. “People of the country are facing the worst drought in 30 years. ...the scale of emergency is too much for any single government,” Ban told reporters in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa.
“Immediate support will save lives and also support the impressive development that Ethiopia has made during the last decade.”
Ethiopian Deputy Prime Minister Demeke Mekonnen warned that his country had less than half of the US$1.4 billion needed.
“Last year Ethiopia was hit by one of the strongest El Nino events on record ... the scale and severity of humanitarian needs have significantly increased,” he said.
Food insecurity is a sensitive issue in Ethiopia, which has struggled to change its image following a devastating famine in 1984-85 after extreme drought.
”Those who remember Ethiopia in the 1980s may feel a disturbing sense of deja vu,” the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said in a report earlier this month.
“The country is once again facing devastating climatic conditions: rains have failed; millions of people need food aid; and children are suffering from severe malnutrition.”
Thousands have left the hardest-hit regions, with a stream of refugees still travelling across the Gulf of Aden to Yemen despite the conflict raging there. Nearly 100,000 Ethiopians and Somalis last year travelled by boat to Yemen, according to UN figures.
El Nino is triggered by a warming in sea surface temperatures in the Pacific Ocean. It can cause unusually heavy rains in some parts of the world and drought elsewhere.
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