Food Assistance Fact Sheet - Ethiopia

February 7, 2013

Food Security Situation 

CIA World Factbook

• Grain yields from the October to January highlands harvest exceeded the five-year average by approximately 19 percent.  However, below average agricultural production in southern and eastern Tigray, eastern Amhara, parts of Southern Nations, Nationalities, and People's Region, and eastern and southern Oromiya has resulted in crisis-level food insecurity in these areas.

• Despite generally good performance of the October to December pastoral rains, shortages of pasture and water still persist in the southeastern parts of the country. These areas received either no rain or below average rainfall during this season.  In addition, large portions of the country's northern pastoral area (Afar and northern Somali Region) received inadequate July to September rains, resulting in crisis-level food insecurity in those areas. 

• Food prices are atypically high.  Although food price inflation dropped from 13 percent in November to 12 percent in December, December food prices were still much higher than the five-year average and appear to have stabilized at high levels.

Food Assistance Programs

• The Office of Food for Peace (FFP) now targets food insecure Ethiopians countrywide as deemed eligible by the Government of Ethiopia.

• FFP partners with the UN World Food Program (WFP), Catholic Relief Services, Food for the Hungry, Relief Society of Tigray, and Save the Children/US on the Productive Safety Net Program (PSNP) as well as drought/flood relief and refugee operations. 

Food for Peace Contributions

Total Contributions:

Fiscal Year 2013 Contribution Breakdown:

Food Security Situation information provided by FEWS NET and WFP as of January 2013

Country Specific Guidance

• Ethiopia Country Specific Guidance

• Cap/Admin Template