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Highlights
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As the impact of five consecutive failed rainy seasons intensifies, nearly 12 million people now face food insecurity in drought affected areas. This is an increase of 2 million people since the drought response plan was released in September this year.
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In response, WFP is supporting families with a combination of emergency relief, nutrition support and resilience building actions to save lives in the short-term and build resilience in the long-term.
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WFP is preparing to scale up and deliver emergency food assistance to 2.8 million people in the Somali Region under the next distribution round. Due to funding shortfalls, WFP is not able to target the 4.7 million people estimated to be in need.
Situation Overview
Over 24 million people are reeling from the impacts of severe drought in Ethiopia, at least 11.8 million1 of which are in need of emergency food assistance.
Severe shortages of water and pasture are devastating livelihoods, forcing families from their homes. The Somali, Oromia, Sidama and Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples’ regions in the south and south-east have been hit the hardest. While some rainfall has taken place in certain drought-affected areas in the south and southeast of the country, WFP projects that the ongoing deyr/hageya rainy season between October and December will be largely insufficient in several regions to support the pasture and water levels needed by pastoralists until the next rainy season in March 2023. This fifth consecutive below-average rainy season is set to exacerbate the already dire food security situation in drought-affected areas, where at least 4.5 million livestock have already perished due to drought. At the same time, 2.7 million children are already acutely malnourished due to the drought’s impact - over 705,000 of these children are severely malnourished.
In the Somali Region, aside from providing emergency food assistance, WFP aims to treat 293,000 malnourished children and mothers in the region with specialized nutritious foods this month. In addition to these lifesaving initiatives, thus far in 2022, WFP has supported 85,800 agro-pastoralists in the region with trainings on small-scale, drought-resistant agricultural techniques and entrepreneurial skills to help them build a flourishing business and diversify their livelihoods in the face of climate change.
Meanwhile in the Oromia Region and the Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples’ Region, WFP is delivering specialized nutritious foods to 268,000 mothers and children this month to address acute malnutrition concerns and providing nutritious school meals to 144,000 children whose families have been affected by the drought.