Millions of Ethiopians will need food aid through 2016 as a result of abnormally low rainfall during the main growing seasons this year, says a monitor funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development. Rainfall in central and eastern Ethiopia was the lowest in more than 50 years.
“A major food emergency is ongoing in central and eastern Ethiopia,” says the Famine Early Warning System. “The government of Ethiopia estimates that 10.2 million people will require emergency food assistance in 2016, making Ethiopia the country with the largest food-insecure population in the world … Sustained, large-scale, multi-sectoral emergency assistance is required immediately to save lives and livelihoods.”
Need will be greatest from May to September, the traditional lean season in the most heavily populated regions. FEWS said the El Nino weather pattern was a factor in the meager rainfall this year. Ethiopia, South Sudan and Yemen are the three areas of highest concern for FEWS. Armed conflict is the reason for high prices and disrupted food supplies in South Sudan and Yemen.