United States Adds $19.5 Million to Food-Aid Support for Ethiopia

April 22, 2005
No. 17/05

Addis Ababa (U.S. Embassy) – The United States Government, through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), has announced an additional pledge of 47,320 metric tons (MT) of wheat valued at over $19.5 million (168,675,000 birr) to Ethiopia through the World Food Program (WFP) to meet the needs of Ethiopia’s Emergency Appeal.

The pledge responds to the joint appeal of the Government of Ethiopia’s Disaster Prevention and Preparedness Commission (DPPC) and the United Nations, which estimates that 2.2 million people will require emergency assistance in 2005.  To date in 2005, the U.S. Government has responded with a total of 103,999 MT of food aid valued at $49 million (423,850,000 birr).  Earlier commitments, provided through WFP and non-governmental organizations, included cereals, pulses, vegetable oil, and corn-soya blend.  USAID provides food assistance to vulnerable populations through direct distribution, food-for-work programs, maternal and child health programs, and therapeutic and supplementary feeding programs.

The United States is also continuing its strong support for the Government of Ethiopia’s Productive Safety Net Program.  This critical and innovative program addresses the needs of the chronically food insecure and ultimately strives to end food aid dependency.  Since October 2004, USAID has provided 254,031 MT of food aid, valued at over US$127 million (1,098,550,000 birr) for the implementation of the Productive Safety Nets Program.  In addition, USAID has given a total of $18 million in grants to support the Productive Safety Nets Program.  This funding has enabled capacity development in the Food Security Coordination Bureau of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development for program start-up, funded partnerships between NGOs and program implementers at the regional, woreda, and community levels to build capacity and put in place livelihood and income diversification activities, and has provided innovative alternative-technology programs to support on- and off-farm income generation.

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