Drought victims continue to live in fear and uncertainty as the recent severe drought has killed two million livestock so far, according to a report of the Food & Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations. The primary reason for the death of the livestock is linked to a rise in drought affected areas and people.
The surge in drought was disclosed by the government after the completion of a Belg assessment Humanitarian Requirement Document (HRD), which was jointly developed by the government and humanitarian organizations, involving more than 200 individuals.
The current food and nutrition crisis is significantly aggravated by the severe blow to pastoral livelihoods, reads the report of FAO.
The effects of low rainfall also continue to have a devastating impact on the food security conditions of the country as the number of people who are in need of immediate assistance has increased from 7.8 million to 8.5 million, becoming the third worst drought in half a century.
Oromia and Somali regional states remain severely affected by the drought, accounting for over half of the drought victims in eight regions of the country, affecting 10.6 percent and 31 percent of their population, respectively.
Also, the number of priority Weredas has grown from 454 to 461, half of which are severely affected by the drought.
The report is released as the average price of food has reached its highest level since October 2015, hitting 12.5 percent in the past month, growing by an unprecedented level against the target of the government to keep the rate at a single digit.
The document showed a significant change in the humanitarian context, requiring urgent life-saving interventions, pushing the humanitarian requirement of the country to 1.2 billion dollars from 948.6 million dollars as of January 2017, of which about 771 million dollars is covered by the government and donations from humanitarian partners.
The United States, the government of Ethiopia and the United Kingdom are the major donors to the drought with a fund of 179 million dollars, 147 million dollars and 40 million dollars, respectively.
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