Emergency report shows Amhara Region hard hit

The latest revised figure for drought-affected people requiring food assistance in Ethiopia is 5,378,671, including 384,858 displaced people, the latest report from the UN Emergencies Unit for Ethiopia, received by IRIN on Monday, has revealed. That figure, released by the Disaster Prevention and Preparedness Commission, has risen from 4.6 million in June to accommodate an increase in beneficiaries due to the failure of the 'belg' harvest. The total food needs from June until the end of the year were reported to be 425,000 mt, comprising 386,586 mt for drought-affected beneficiaries and 38,558 mt required for displaced people affected by the border war with Eritrea. Over two and a quarter million require food assistance in Amhara Region, the most seriously affected in terms of the number of people at risk in the current Ethiopian hunger crisis, the report stated. The South Wello district of Amhara has been particularly affected by poor 'belg' crop performance and the decimation of livestock populations. Also hard hit has been the Afar Region, "where pastoralists not only face drought, depressed markets and food insecurity but economic hardships because of the war", especially given the loss of the Assab market, the report stated.