Ethiopia: Number of people needing food aid reaches 7.7 mil.

ESAT News (April 28, 2017)

The number of people affected by the severe drought in Ethiopia has reached 7.7 million, according to the country’s Disaster Risk Management Commission.

State media, quoting the Commission, reported that the number has shown a 2.1 million increase from the 5.6 million estimate last January owing to a change in weather phenomenon and flooding which damaged whatever crops  farmers managed to grow.

The most affected are the Amhara, Somali and Southern regions of the country.

On top of the drought, a cholera outbreak is sweeping through the Somali region, which according to Médecins Sans Frontières, has affected more than 16,000 people in the whole region since the start of the year, with about 3,500 new cases per month.