Ethiopia Pleads for Food Aid as Renewed Drought Threatens Millions
October 23, 2009
Ethiopian officials appealed to international agencies Thursday for $121-million in emergency food aid to alleviate widespread hunger in the drought-stricken nation, reports the Associated Press.
A quarter-century after the devastating famine that inspired the Live Aid concerts, the Ethiopian government said 6.2 million people need immediate aid. Many humanitarian groups believe the number of people affected by the country’s cyclical droughts is much higher.
The British development charity Oxfam, in a report marking 25 years since the Ethiopian famine, said countries need to prepare communities more effectively to prevent and deal with drought rather than relying on outside aid.
