Food security improving - FEWS Net

Food security in Ethiopia is improving thanks to a good harvest, rising coffee prices in the world market and better aid distribution, a famine early warning network said on Thursday. The number of Ethiopians in need of food aid in 2006 could be one of the lowest in recent years, the USAID-funded Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS Net) said. Millions of Ethiopians require food aid each year, but harvests for the coming year are expected to be far higher than the previous year and above the five-year average, the agency reported in its latest update on food security in Ethiopia. According to the government's Central Statistics Agency, a record area of land was planted, surpassing last year's 10 million hectares. High crop prices throughout 2005 have also encouraged farmers to use fertilisers and other inputs to increase their yields. Good rains and the absence of pests had also helped, FEWS Net noted. "The number of people in need of assistance in 2006 could be the lowest in recent years and less than the 3.8 million beneficiaries who received emergency food assistance in 2005," it said. However, FEWS Net said the knock-on effects of years of drought, poor nutrition, bad healthcare and lack of clean drinking water had left many people vulnerable. "Many people will face chronic food insecurity in 2006 as well as high levels of malnutrition, disease outbreaks, water shortages, sanitation problems, and seed deficits due to the lingering effects of the multiple shocks they have sustained in recent years," the agency said. It also warned that rains had been poor in some areas, notably in eastern Ethiopia's Somali Region, which is inhabited by some four million people. Some 700,000 households had benefited from an increase in coffee prices, FEWS Net reported, while distributions of cash and food aid under the government's pilot safety net scheme had also improved. The scheme - which provides aid to five million people in return for work - had been criticised for leaving many hungry and without support. The US $200 million-a-year safety nets programme was launched in January 2004. It ranks as one of the largest single aid programmes in Ethiopia and almost half of Ethiopia's 520 woredas [districts] have been included in the scheme.