Earth Equity News

Climate Change Compounds Ethiopia's Food Crisis. By Aaron Maasho, AFP, November 14, 2009. "Twenty-five years after a scathing famine killed a million people in the Horn of Africa nation, Ethiopia announced last month that more than six million required food relief out of a population of about 80 million. The government appealed for 159,000 tons of food aid worth 121 million dollars to feed its hungry population. Official figures also indicate that nearly 80,000 children under five are suffering from acute malnutrition and that nine million dollars is required for moderately malnourished children and women. Although none of Ethiopia's six national droughts since 1984 have been as devastating, aid groups say the grim prospects of food shortages will linger for years to come due to climate change. Average temperatures in Ethiopia are predicted to rise by 3.9 degrees celsius by 2080, Oxfam said, making drought the norm, hitting the region in up to three in every four years in the next 25 years.'"