Ethiopia Food Insecurity Update, Sudanese attacks displace 12000

• In Gambella region, nearly 12,000 people in Itang and Lare woredas have been displaced due to fears of Murule ethnic group (Sudanese) attacks.
• In the Somali region, extreme food insecurity persists in most areas as a result of continued market access problems related to insecurity in some zones.
• Adding to the food insecurity is a growing IDP population in the region. A joint verification assessment by the Oromiya region, Borena zone, and partners estimates that over 81,765 people have been displaced due to Geri/Borena clan conflict over water and pasture Arero, Moyale and Das Woredas of Borena Zone.
• Overall food security conditions in most parts of Oromia Region have shown improvement due to satisfactory Meher harvest and ongoing assistance programmes. However Bale, Arsi and Guji zones face limited food availability, particularly in Seru, Arsi Robe, Aseko, Gololcha and Munesa woredas where the meher harvest failed.
• In SNNPR, high rates of acute malnutrition have been reporterd in Gedeb and Bulle woredas of Gedeo Zone following the nutrition and health assessment conducted in the region in February 2009. 
• In Amhara region, the nutrition situation appears to be stable, except in isolated woredas. [South Wollo and North Wollo zones] are highly dependent on the belg season and the performance of both the 2008 belg and the 2008/09 meher was poor.

Ethiopia continues to face high levels of food insecurity, with an estimated 12.4 million people considered currently food insecure. A total of 7.5 million people will be covered under the Productive Safety Net Program (PSNP), whilst 4.9 million people require emergency food assistance from January to June 2009.

Food security in the belg crop producing parts of the country is threatened by a delayed and erratic start of the belg rains. If the rains remain poor, a second consecutive below average harvest will occur in these already chronically food insecure parts of the country. Close monitoring of the seasonal rains through the end of the season is required.

The national inflation rate in February 2009 was 46.1 percent, with food inflation at 61.1 percent and a non food inflation rate of 24.2 percent. The price of maize, the food most widely consumed by the poor, is 130 percent higher than the 2004 2008 average and 47 percent higher than that of February 2008. The food security of households that spend a significant proportion of their income on food will continue to be negatively affected due to the high and rising staple food prices.

Famine Early Warning System Network (FEWS NET)