In a stark warning, the head of the UN’s food aid agency in Ethiopia has said millions in the country are “one shock away from falling into a catastrophe”.
Zlatan Milišić’s statement came as he announced that because of a lack of funding the World Food Programme (WFP ) “is being forced to halt treatment” for more than half a million malnourished women and children starting next month.
Those affected are among 3.6 million people who would no longer have access to food aid in the coming weeks without more money coming in, the WFP has warned.
Ethiopia is still feeling the after-effects from a two-year civil war in the northern region of Tigray that ended in 2022.
There is also ongoing violence in the two most populous regions, Amhara and Oromia, that has forced hundreds of thousands from their homes. Plus conflicts in neighbouring countries has led to an influx of refugees.
An on-going drought in the south-east of the country is also causing concern.
In a statement which outlines that “hunger and malnutrition are on the rise” in the country of 130 million people, the WFP said 650,000 women and children will not be getting what it calls “life-saving” help from May.
Looking beyond next month, Mr Milišić said that without more funding “we will not be able to deliver any food assistance to the most vulnerable families we support in three months from now”.
The WFP said it was facing a shortfall of $222m (£166m) for the April-September period in Ethiopia, “despite the generosity of many governments and individual donors”.
The WFP has not been affected by the Trump administration’s cuts to its foreign aid programme, a UN spokesperson told the BBC, adding that “we have not received enough funding from all donors”.
In addition to financial constraints, the WFP said its humanitarian operations have been disrupted by the ongoing violence and insecurity in Amhara, “threatening our ability to reach over half a million vulnerable people in the region”.
“Criminal activities such as car hijacking, threats, and theft, are on the rise and pose serious risks to staff safety and impact the delivery of life saving assistance,” it added.
Ethiopia, a country of a population of around 130 million people, has also been receiving thousands of refugees from Sudan, Somalia, South Sudan and Eritrea.