Through USAID, the American People Provide Additional $60 Million in Food Aid for Ethiopia

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 2008 Addis Ababa (U.S. Embassy) – The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) announced today that it is providing an additional contribution of nearly $60 million in food assistance to the Ethiopian people through the U.N. World Food Program.  The contribution consists of nearly 72,000 metric tons (MT) of food commodities, including approximately 33,000 MT of sorghum, 33,000 MT of wheat, 5,000 MT of corn soya blend (CSB), and 1,000 MT of vegetable oil.

The United States is the largest donor of emergency food assistance to Ethiopia.  Since October 2007, the American people have provided more than 804,000 MT of food assistance to Ethiopia.  This assistance, given through USAID’s Office of Food for Peace, is valued at nearly $627 million, and includes more than $324 million in emergency food commodities and more than $302 million in contributions to the Productive Safety Net Program, a multi-donor effort led by the Ethiopian Government to address chronic food insecurity.

From September 15-19, 2008, Michael Hess, Assistant Administrator of the USAID’s Bureau of Democracy, Conflict, and Humanitarian Assistance, and Jeff Borns, Director of the Office of Food for Peace, are in Ethiopia to meet with government officials and representatives from humanitarian organizations and analyze the effectiveness of U.S. Government humanitarian assistance in affected areas.  Assistant Administrator Hess and Director Borns travelled to the Somali and Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples regions of Ethiopia to observe USAID-funded programs and meet with regional officials and USAID partners.

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