CRS Assists in Massive Food Relief in Ethiopia

As Consortium Lead, CRS will Ensure Delivery of 75,140 Metric Tons of Title II Food to help 3 Million Drought Affected Ethiopians.

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (CRS) - As millions of Ethiopians face drought across the country, Catholic Relief Services has signed a $53.4 million agreement with the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) to provide almost 3 million drought-affected Ethiopians with emergency food assistance.

Reprising its leadership of the Joint Emergency Operation Plan consortium, CRS will coordinate activities with CARE Ethiopia, Food for the Hungry International, Relief Society of Tigray, Save the Children--U.K., Save the Children--U.S. and World Vision Ethiopia to transport and distribute 75,140 metric tons of Title II food. The emergency distributions will assist 2,979,788 people selected in consultation with the government of Ethiopia, USAID and the U.N. World Food Program living in the most severely-affected regions of Amhara; Oromia; Somali; Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples Region; and Tigray.

"After the short rains failed to come earlier this year in many pockets of Ethiopia, thousands of children began to show signs of malnutrition as families were left with little or nothing to eat," explains Lane Bunkers, CRS' country representative in Ethiopia. "Resulting delays in planting long-cycle crops coupled with continued poor rains are now leading to potential crop failures for millions more farmers during the upcoming October and November harvest--drastically reducing expected food stores for the coming year."

"Shipments of sorghum, wheat, pulses, corn soy blend and vegetable oil donated by the United States, scheduled to begin arriving in late October, will help families survive this critical food shortage," Bunkers adds.

Currently, food is unavailable for purchase locally in Ethiopia. A considerable reduction in the Ethiopian government's emergency food reserve also prevents the ability to borrow food for distribution now and replacement later. As a result, CRS is working with USAID to move 1500 metric tons of pre-positioned corn soy blend from Djibouti, which will be distributed this month to the elderly and to pregnant and nursing mothers in 34 of 63 districts targeted by the emergency plan.

CRS has already provided $125,000 in private funds to the Ethiopian Catholic Secretariat to help dioceses respond to local needs, particularly in support of emergency medical and feeding services. CRS has given another $150,000 in private funding to the Missionaries of Charity to help them feed 10,000 additional people at two of their centers for the destitute and dying in Addis Ababa; exponential increases in food prices and limited availability of local supplies constrict these relief efforts, however. A $550,000 grant from the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs has also supported August and September distributions of seeds by CRS partners to more than 16,000 farmers in need in the Oromia region.

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"Communities where we have implemented long-term agricultural and irrigation projects over the years are withstanding the drought significantly better than their neighbors," Bunkers notes. "We will continue to do everything we can to provide emergency relief, and we also urge donors to fund long-term development projects to prevent future crises."

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About Catholic Relief Services
Catholic Relief Services is the official international humanitarian agency of the U.S. Catholic community. The agency alleviates suffering and provides assistance to people in need in more than 100 countries, without regard to race, religion or nationality. For more information, please visit www.crs.org or www.crsespanol.org

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Reprinted by Catholic Online with permission of Catholic Relief Services (www.crs.org)