Ethiopia's State Minister confirmed estimates of the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization that announced yesterday that 6 million Ethiopians are in need of emergency food assistance, over a million increase from previous estimates.
Mitiku Kassa, State Minister for Disaster Risk Management and Food Security sector at the Ministry of Agriculture & Rural Development, could not yet confirm, however, claims by FAO that 75 percent of the crop in some Ethiopian regions has failed due to insufficient rainfall.The UN report warns that millions face hunger in Kenya, Ethiopia, Somalia & Eritrea.
Mitiku told Alula Kebede of the Amharic service that the Ethiopian government’s survey was conducted in collaboration with international donors. Mitiku said the government is distributing food to people who are in need of assistance and said have substantial supplies in their warehouses, though he did not indicate if those supplies would meet the needs of the 6 million.
