Ethiopia needs emergency aid

ETHIOPIA has said it needs emergency food aid for 6.2 million people.

The crisis stems from a prolonged drought that has hit much of the Horn of Africa, including Kenya and Somalia.

Drought is especially disastrous in Ethiopia, because more than 80% of people live off the land. Agriculture drives the economy, accounting for half of all domestic production and most exports.

Mitiku Kassa, Ethiopia’s state minister for agriculture and rural development, appealed to donors yesterday for more than $121 million (€80m). In January, he had said that 4.9m of Ethiopia’s 85m people needed emergency food aid.

Ethiopia has long struggled with cyclical droughts, which are compounded by the country’s dependence on rain-fed agriculture and archaic farming practices.

In 1984, Ethiopia’s famine drew international attention as reports showed emaciated children and adults.