An Ethiopian government report released on Tuesday warned that 8.5 million people would need food aid from Feb. 2020 to June 2020.
This is according to the first Integrated Food Security Phase Classification analysis report released by the Ethiopian government in Addis Ababa.
The report said that in spite of ongoing assistance, insufficient harvest in the coming month’s meant that at least 8.5 million people were expected to need food aid in the first half of 2020.
The report said that conflict and climate-induced displacement, high food prices and the long dry spell in the northeastern parts of Ethiopia would likely aggravate the needs of 8.5 million vulnerable people.
The report further warned of the need to take urgent action to save lives and reduce malnutrition, and to mitigate the effects of the anticipated food security crisis in the first half of 2020.
In March 2019, the Ethiopian government and its humanitarian partners including the UN had appealed for 1.3 billion dollars to address food and non-food emergency needs of some 8.3 million people.
Ethiopia was spared significant climate-related calamities in 2018, but spikes in conflict-induced displacements, which led to an increase of internally displaced population, contributed to high humanitarian response needs in 2019.
