Ethiopia: Drought Fact Sheet, FY 2003

Background

• In 2002, below-average belg, or secondary rains (March-May) coupled with delayed and sporadic meher, or main rains (July-September) have led to widespread food insecurity in Ethiopia. The lack of sufficient precipitation during the belg season failed to replenish water sources and provide pasture in the pastoral areas of Afar, northeastern Oromiya, and northern Somali Regions. Pastoralists have thus suffered increasingly over the last few months from significant losses of livestock, decreased food availability and accessibility, malnutrition, and water shortages.
• In addition, given the poor performance of the meher rains, food insecurity continues to spread to agro-pastoral and agricultural areas, particularly the lowlands and midlands of Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples (SNNP), Tigray, and Amhara Regions. USAID’s Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET) estimates that overall crop production will be 8-15% below average. However, in isolated areas, estimates of crop losses are significantly higher than the overall average percentage loss.
• The Government of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia’s (GFDRE) Disaster Prevention and Preparedness Commission (DPPC), along with the U.N.’s Emergency Unit for Ethiopia (UN/EUE), issued an updated appeal on the food security situation in country on September 30, 2002. The appeal revised the number of Ethiopians currently vulnerable to food insecurity to approximately 6.3 million people. Although this number is expected to decline in the short-term following the main harvest in November, under the worst-case scenario, the number of affected could reach 14.3 million people by early 2003.

Current Situation

• According to FEWS NET and WFP’s Vulnerability and Analysis Unit (VAM), rainfall projections through December are expected to be below normal in Oromiya, Somali, and SNNP Regions. In addition, areas in Tigray, Afar, and Amhara, which should have received sufficient rainfall through September, have reported early withdrawals of rains.
• According to USAID/OFDA field staff, populations in areas of Afar, Somali, and Oromiya Regions have been adversely affected by significantly decreased access to potable water. In response, the Ministry of Water Resources (MOWR), along with international NGOs, have begun to transport potable water to affected populations. In addition, the MOWR plans to release a contingency plan in the near future that outlines the GFDRE’s planned response to water shortages through March 2003.
• USAID/OFDA field staff report that malnutrition among children under five is becoming increasingly prevalent in areas of Afar, Amhara, and Oromiya Regions. In coordination with the Ministry of Health, international NGOs and the World Health Organization (WHO) have launched a measles and vitamin A campaign, as well as planned for the distribution of emergency health kits to the worst-affected areas of Afar and Oromiya Regions.
• In an interview with international media on November 11, Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi warned that 15 million people could face starvation by early 2003 and requested urgent action by international donors.

U.S. Government Assistance

• On August 1, 2002, the U.S. Embassy in Ethiopia declared a disaster in response to the developing drought situation. In response, USAID/OFDA, USAID/FFP, and USAID/Ethiopia contributed more than $71 million in humanitarian assistance in FY 2002. In addition, in FY 2002 USDA contributed $34.4 million of section 416(b) emergency food assistance and State/PRM provided $7.2 million towards assistance to refugees in Ethiopia.
• Following the initial October 22 deadline, USAID/OFDA is reviewing all proposals submitted in response to its Annual Program Statement (APS) and expects in the coming weeks to robustly fund organizations to provide emergency, life-saving assistance to those drought-affected populations most at risk.
• In October, USAID/OFDA deployed an Emergency Disaster Response Coordinator (EDRC) and Information Officer to Ethiopia to coordinate USAID/OFDA’s humanitarian response to the situation. In addition, USAID/FFP deployed staff to augment USAID/Ethiopia’s Food and Humanitarian Assistance (FHA) Unit.
• In FY 2003 to date, USAID/FFP has committed more than 173,300 metric tons (MTs) of P.L. 480 Title II emergency food assistance, valued at more than $75 million.
  

¹ For further information on specific USG humanitarian funding actions in FY 2002, please view USAID/OFDA Fact Sheet FY03#1 at http://www.usaid.gov/hum_response/ofda/ethiopia_dr_fs1_fy03.html

Public Donation Information

• In the interest of effective coordination of public response, USAID encourages the public to contact directly those private voluntary organizations (PVOs) currently working in the region in order to provide monetary donations. Cash donations are the preferred response to the emergency.
• For a list of non-governmental organizations providing disaster assistance in the region, please visit USAID's website at http://www.usaid.gov. Those interested in providing specific technical relief services or commodities can obtain guidelines for private voluntary organizations through Volunteers in Technical Assistance's (VITA’s) Disaster Information Center at http://www.vita.org.
• USAID will not deviate from standard Denton Program procedures for transporting privately-donated relief supplies. USAID will prioritize delivery of essential relief commodities. For more information on the Denton Program, please refer to the USAID website at http://www.usaid.gov/hum_response/pvc/denton.html.
• For additional information about humanitarian relief efforts worldwide, please visit ReliefWeb at http://www.reliefweb.int/