Ethiopia set to run out of food aid for 7.8 million people as drought drags onPostedEthiopia will run out of emergency food aid for 7.8 million people hit by severe drought by the end of this month, the Government and humanitarian groups have said. Donors, international aid groups and the Government said existing food aid for the current 7.8 million would run out as funds are critically short this year, with Ethiopia receiving only slightly more than half of the $US1.235 billion to meet requirements until July. That means the 7.8 million people who are in need of humanitarian food assistance in Ethiopia will see that distribution cut abruptly at the end of June," he added. Along with the drought, Ethiopia also faces an outbreak of what authorities call acute watery diarrhoea, though critics have said the Government should call it cholera instead. Across the Horn of Africa, close to 17 million people need humanitarian aid due to drought, including 2.6 million in Kenya and 3.2 million in Somalia, according to the UN.

Source: Ethiopian News June 10, 2017 20:26 UTC