FAO Calls for $50m for Ethiopia

The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Friday called for an emergency cash injection of $50 million to help Ethiopia deal with its worst drought in decades.

Crop production has dropped to 90 percent in some areas and failed completely in the country's east, a consequence of El Nino, which has caused significant declines in rain in some parts of the world and floods in others.

FAO said that the drought has decimated Ethiopian livestock and threatened food supplies for 10.2 million people. It said that access to pasture and water will worsen until the rainy season begins in March.

"The outlook for 2016 is very grim," FAO representative for Ethiopia Amadou Allahoury said. "Food overall will become harder to access if we continue to see prices rise, food stocks deplete and livestock become weaker, less productive, and perish."

The agency's plan includes distributing seeds and animal feed, vaccinating animals, delivering 100,000 sheep and goats to vulnerable households, and giving farmers cash for bringing weakened and unproductive livestock to slaughter. Communities will be offered support with savings-and-loans schemes, irrigation projects, and education.

Source: SPA