Ethiopia - Drought and food pipeline break

• The drought in the Horn of Africa continues to hit the south and south-eastern pastoral regions of Ethiopia following the poor performance of the spring rains. Parts of the drought-affected areas have fallen in IPC 4 (crisis) and 7.8 million people are currently receiving food assistance in the country.
• According to preliminary results of the multi sectoral season needs assessment (Belg assessment) from June, between 11 and 15 million people will need food assistance during the second half of the year (lean period). WFP’s recent food security assessment shows that most vulnerable households can only cover one quarter of their daily food needs. As per the Ethiopian government’s alert letter to the donors, the estimated funding gap to cover the 7.8 million population in need of food assistance is USD 500 million. A revision of the Humanitarian Requirements Document (HRD) should be shared in July and the appeal is expected to increase significantly.
• The nutrition situation in drought-affected areas has dramatically deteriorated in the past months, with a sharp increase in MAM (moderate acute malnutrition) and SAM (severe acute malnutrition) rates that has led to an increase of fatalities. Further deterioration of the nutrition situation is expected in the lean season. The initial MAM and SAM caseloads (respectively 2.7 million and 303,000 individuals) projected in the January HRD are expected to increase significantly. Most pastoral households have lost their livestock that constituted the main animal protein source for children. It is estimated that over 2 million livestock has already been lost.
• The WFP food pipeline assisting the population in Somali region (1.7 million people) is expected to break by July with an estimated funding gap of USD 96 million. Already several weeks ago, the government-led wet food distribution to the drought-IDPs settlements in Somali region was stopped due to lack of funding and food. In absence of regular and sufficient food distribution, it is expected that the nutritional status of the children and PLWs (pregnant and lactating women) will further deteriorate, not providing any firewall against acute malnutrition. Moreover, Somali region was hit by a massive cholera outbreak that has affected over 37,000 individuals countrywide since the beginning of the year, with 90% in Somali region. This outbreak has further negative impact on the nutritional status of the children and vice versa.

Source: Reliefweb. Read full article here.
27 June, 2017