The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) has called for urgent concerted humanitarian support to tackle an impending drought-induced humanitarian crisis in Ethiopia.
The UNOCHA, in its latest Ethiopia humanitarian situation report released late Thursday, said the El Nino-driven drought is driving millions of people to suffer and desperation, and it called for urgent needs to prevent further deterioration.
According to the UNOCHA, a recent seasonal assessment and a subsequent joint prioritization process have identified a yearly target for food assistance of 10.4 million people in Ethiopia.
It said the current El Nino-driven drought that mainly affected the highlands of Ethiopia is worsened by poor harvest and production loss due to below-average summer rains from June to August 2023.
“The drought scorched farms, dried up rivers and water sources, and parched pastures, putting millions of people and livestock into a worsened humanitarian situation with exacerbated food, water, and fodder shortages,” it said.
The UNOCHA said the drought situation further exacerbated the already dire humanitarian conditions millions of people across northern Ethiopia experienced as the affected people were still recovering from the impact of the two-year northern Ethiopia conflict from 2020 to 2022.
“Conditions for the affected populations will deteriorate if not reacted with a multi-sector response between January and March. By then, the affected populations will increasingly have become destitute in the face of severe water shortages, deterioration in livestock health and malnutrition,” it warned.
