The United Nations (UN) World Food Program (WFP) warns that Ethiopia is facing a hunger crisis, and the combined effects of conflict, drought, floods, desert locust infestation, market disruptions, food price hikes, and the Coronavirus (known also as COVID-19) pandemic have left an estimated 13.6 million people food insecure.
The UN organization issued a statement revealing more dire facts about hunger in Ethiopia and its main provinces over the last twelve months following the break out of the civil war in the northern part of the country.
The statement made by the United Nations body stated that it is experiencing a funding gap of $579 million to provide life-saving food assistance and livelihood support activities to more than 12 million people in Ethiopia over the next six months.
This amount includes $316 million urgently to deliver emergency food assistance to 3.7 million people. million people in northern Ethiopia over the next six month
These areas were inflicted badly by the civil war that erupted between the forces of the Tigrayan Popular Liberation Front (TPLF) and units loyal to the federal government led by Ethiopia's Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Ali.
The statement noted that timely and complete food support is critical to alleviating the suffering of millions across Ethiopia, in addition to the severe challenges facing conflict-affected populations in many regions.
"Record-high levels of acute food insecurity are expected in Ethiopia until at least mid-2022, with the northern, southern and southeastern parts of the country being the most worrying, according to the latest Ethiopia Food Security Outlook," the FAO statement said.
The statement emphasized that the lack of funding has already reduced the rations of about 710,000 refugees across the country, and the refugees are now receiving 60 percent of the required calories per person per day while food-insecure families receive 10 percent less cereal per person per month.
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