NAIROBI, Kenya (Thomson Reuters Foundation) — Millions of Ethiopians, hit by the country’s worst drought in 50 years, need seeds to plant food crops and animal fodder during the current spring rain, says the Food and Agricultural Organization.
It said planting for the March to May rain, known as the belg, is already delayed because families have eaten their seeds or exhausted them after successive droughts.
“FAO urgently needs $13 million by the end of March to support more than 600,000 of the worst affected people,” said Amadou Allahoury Diallo, the FAO’s country representative.
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“It’s critical that we’re able to respond quickly and robustly to reboot agriculture now before the drought further decimates the food security and livelihoods of millions.”
Some 7.5 million farmers and herders need aid to produce corn, sorghum, teff, wheat and livestock feed, according to Ethiopia’s Bureau of Agriculture.
Farmers need seeds not just for the current rain but also for the summer meher rains, which are due to start in June and produce 85 percent of Ethiopia’s food supplies.
The hunger crisis is predicted to worsen until the harvest begins in September.
Ethiopia’s government and the United Nations have asked for $1.4 billion to feed 10.2 million Ethiopians, which is the third largest appeal after Syria and Yemen.
An additional 7.9 million chronically food insecure people are receiving rations through the Ethiopian government’s donor-supported Productive Safety Net Programme.
Funding shortages mean food aid is in short supply, and malnutrition will increase dramatically if donor money runs out in May, the United Nations has said.
Some 435,000 children are expected to become severely malnourished in 2016.
Cows and goats are a critical source of milk for hungry families, but many have stopped producing it.
Hundreds of thousands of livestock have already died, and the remaining animals are becoming weak and thin, FAO said.
