ESAT News (August 31, 2017)
The heads of the three UN food agencies will visit Ethiopia Friday to highlight the critical food and nutrition security situation.
The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)’s Director-General José Graziano da Silva, President of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), Gilbert F. Houngbo and the Executive Director of the World Food Programme (WFP), David Beasley will be in Ethiopia from 1-4 September.
More than 8.5 million people in Ethiopia require food assistance in the second half of 2017.
The statement said the agency heads will witness first-hand the scale of the crisis during a field mission to Somali region where the drought has killed many heads of livestock, causing a breakdown in pastoral livelihoods and a jump in malnutrition.
Meanwhile the United States said it will provide an additional $91 million in humanitarian aid for Ethiopia to cope with a third straight year of drought.
USAID new administrator, Mark Green made the announcement in Addis Ababa Thursday.
The extra funding brings U.S. aid for food and medical care in Ethiopia to $454 million this year. Another $210 million in U.S. aid has gone to development projects.