Office of the Historian

257. Paper Prepared in the Agency for International Development1

Washington, October 30, 1987

ETHIOPIA UPDATE #1

The U.S. Government tracks the food availability and emergency situation in Ethiopia continuously. As technical capability to monitor the agricultural situation improves our ability to anticipate Ethiopia’s [Page 705] agricultural production and its impact on the indigenous population does too.

1987–88 harvest

The belg (early) rain, which accounts for approximately five to ten percent of the total crop but is significant in several regions, was much better than normal. The belg was an excellent prelude to the meher (major) season.

The meher season suffered from prolonged dry spells in many regions at various times. As a result, some provinces and regions are expected to have almost total crop failures for the 1987–88 harvest period. The most affected provinces are Eritrea, Tigray, Hararge, Showa and Welo.

The Ethiopian Government and the United Nations now estimate that approximately five million people will need emergency relief in CY 1988, and that that relief will encompass approximately 950,000 MT of imported relief food. This is a conservative estimate and is expected to rise, particularly in the northern Ethiopia (Eritrea and Tigray) where the drought was most intense and the crop failure percentage highest.

U.S. Actions

So far the U.S. has moved quickly and generously to respond to the problems. To meet the estimated emergency needs the U.S. has already approved:

—115,000 MT of emergency food (valued at $37 million, including internal transport, storage and handling—ITSH), which will be distributed through four American private and voluntary organizations in various regions of the country.

—$1.8 million in disaster funds for spare parts and personnel to the United Nations transport fleet (WTOE).

—increased the A.I.D. staff in Addis from one person to five, two of whom will arrive in November.

Additional requests are under consideration.

  1. Source: Reagan Library, Rosenberg Files, Food Aid to Ethiopia 09/25/1987–02/08/1988. No classification marking.↩