International   

Ethiopia pleads for drought aid

Nairobi: Ethiopia has appealed for $325 million in aid after drought and crop failure more than doubled the number of people needing emergency assistance to 4.6 million.

Poor rains have affected much of southern and south-eastern Ethiopia since last year, significantly cutting harvests. The shortage of local cereals has sent prices soaring, while the cost of imported food has also risen sharply because of the global food crisis and increased fuel prices.

Aid agencies say hundreds of thousands of the poorest families can no longer afford to buy enough food to sustain themselves.

According to the U.N., which issued the appeal to donors on Saturday together with Ethiopia’s Disaster Prevention and Preparedness Agency, 75,000 children are suffering from acute malnutrition and illness.

The food insecurity is the worst since 2003, when 13.2 million people required emergency assistance. — © Guardian Newspapers Limited, 2008

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

Two Sri Lanka provinces to go to polls in August
“Karzai’s threat will not help war against terror”
Bumper crop ensures China’s food safety
Bush cautions Brown on Iraq withdrawal
Ethiopia pleads for drought aid
Focus on Sri Lanka

Copyright © 2008, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu