WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Trump administration gave $169 million to feed people facing starvation in Ethiopia and Kenya, USAID said on Thursday, adding to earlier assistance for those suffering from drought and conflict in four other nations.

USAID, the U.S. government’s humanitarian relief agency, said in a statement that it had provided $137 million in aid for Ethiopia and nearly $33 million for Kenya.

The latest funding comes after Trump pledged $639 million last month in urgent food assistance for Somalia, South Sudan, Nigeria and Yemen.

Increased aid comes as numerous countries in the region face crisis-level food shortages due to armed conflict, prolonged drought and economic upheaval that have also resulted in a lack of medical care, sanitation, shelter and safety.

Meteorologists have blamed a series of severe back-to-back droughts in Ethiopia and the Horn of Africa region on fluctuations in ocean temperatures known as the Indian Ocean Dipole. While rain is expected early next year in Somalia it is unlikely to offer immediate relief.

“With this new funding, the United States is scaling up emergency food assistance, while providing specialized nutrition supplies to treat malnourished children, and also furnishing safe drinking water and essential health services,” USAID’s statement said.

The funds for Kenya would help support refugees fleeing neighboring conflicts as well as Kenyans suffering from drought, the agency said. Rising food prices in Kenya have also been an ongoing concern.

The assistance for Ethiopia, which has also been struck by a severe drought, included enough food to feed 3 million people, USAID added.

While the hardest-hit area in Somali region of eastern Ethiopia is not plagued by conflict, it is remote with poor infrastructure and hard to reach.

“It is not a famine but it is rising up to the levels of getting close to famine,” said Matt Nims, acting director of Food for Peace at USAID. “That is why we want to act now so that we’re not into that stage.”

According to the United Nations, 795 million people worldwide are undernourished, mostly in developing countries. It has already warned of mass starvation in Yemen, Nigeria, Somalia and South Sudan.

Last month, The United Nations said that while many people in South Sudan are still going hungry, the worst of the famine had eased.

In Yemen, a two-year war has increased concerns about mass starvation and disease.</s>The United States today announced more than $169 million in humanitarian assistance to support those in Ethiopia and Kenya who are experiencing the effects of prolonged severe drought.

This additional funding, including nearly $137 million in Ethiopia and nearly $33 million in Kenya, brings the total U.S. humanitarian contribution in Ethiopia and Kenya to more than $458 million in Fiscal Year 2017.

With this new funding, the United States is scaling up emergency food assistance, while providing specialized nutrition supplies to treat malnourished children, and also furnishing safe drinking water and essential health services.

In Ethiopia, this assistance includes a contribution of more than 111,000 metric tons of relief food aid for approximately three million people. In Kenya, the United States is also providing support for refugees who have fled drought and conflict in their own countries, in addition to Kenyans affected by the drought.

This additional aid comes at a critical moment. An estimated 7.8 million people require urgent humanitarian assistance throughout Ethiopia, where the USAID-funded Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET) signals that, without immediate and sustained assistance, food insecurity could reach catastrophic levels for some families in the worst-affected areas.

In addition to severe hunger, acute watery diarrhea is spreading in drought-affected regions, which presents a deadly triple threat of hunger, malnutrition, and dehydration, in addition to the displacement of affected populations. Humanitarian needs are also growing in Kenya, where an estimated 2.6 million people are acutely food-insecure, and malnutrition is on the rise as drought conditions persist.

The United States is one of the largest donors of humanitarian assistance in Ethiopia and Kenya, and the largest single humanitarian donor in the world. “We strongly encourage additional contributions from the governments of Ethiopia and Kenya, and other humanitarian donors, to address the growing needs of people affected by this drought,” the United States said in its statement.</s>Today the United States announced more than $169 million in humanitarian assistance to support those in Ethiopia and Kenya who are experiencing the effects of prolonged severe drought. This additional funding, including nearly $137 million in Ethiopia and nearly $33 million in Kenya, brings the total U.S. humanitarian contribution in Ethiopia and Kenya to more […]http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Appa-sourceTheAfric...</s>US Provides Additional $169 Million in Aid to Ethiopia, Kenya

(AFRICAN EXAMINER) – The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump announced Thursday it will provide an additional $169 million in humanitarian aid to the drought-stricken African countries of Ethiopia and Kenya.

The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) said the funds, over $136 million for Ethiopia and almost $33 million for Kenya, would be used for emergency food aid, nutrition supplies and health services.

USAID said nearly 8 million Ethiopians are in need of urgent humanitarian aid. Without it, the agency said “food insecurity could reach catastrophic levels for some families in the worst-affected areas” and result in “the displacement of affected populations.”

In Kenya, USAID said some 2.6 million people are “acutely food-insecure” as drought conditions continue.

The latest round of humanitarian aid increases to $458 million the amount of assistance the U.S. has provided to Ethiopia and Kenya this fiscal year./VOA</s>WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Trump administration gave $169 million to feed people starving in Ethiopia and Kenya, USAID said on Thursday, adding to earlier assistance for those suffering from drought and conflict in four other nations.

USAID, the U.S. government's humanitarian relief agency, said in a statement that it would provide $137 million in aid for Ethiopia and nearly $33 million for Kenya.

The latest wave of funding comes after Trump pledged $639 million last month in urgent food assistance for those in Somalia, South Sudan, Nigeria and Yemen.

Increased aid comes as numerous countries in the region face crisis-level food shortages due to armed conflict, drought and economic upheaval that have also resulted in a lack of medical care, sanitation, shelter and safety.

"With this new funding, the United States is scaling up emergency food assistance, while providing specialized nutrition supplies to treat malnourished children, and also furnishing safe drinking water and essential health services," USAID's statement said.

The funds for Kenya would help support refugees fleeing neighboring conflicts as well as Kenyans suffering from drought, the agency said. Rising food prices have also been an ongoing concern.

The assistance for Ethiopia, which has also been struck by a severe drought, included enough food to feed 3 million people, USAID added.

Conflicts can also shift countries' resources away from infrastructure and public health, causing food and water shortages, overcrowding and lack of sanitation. Such conditions can lead to diseases such as cholera, measles and malaria.

According to the United Nations, 795 million people worldwide are undernourished, mostly in developing countries. It has already warned of mass starvation in Yemen, Nigeria, Somalia and South Sudan.

Last month, The United Nations said that while many people in South Sudan are still going hungry, the worst of the famine had eased.

In Yemen, a two-year war has increased concerns about mass starvation and disease.</s>WARDER, Ethiopia (Reuters) - Ethiopia will run out of emergency food aid for 7.8 million people hit by severe drought by the end of this month, the government and humanitarian groups said.

Successive failed rains blamed by meteorologists on fluctuations in ocean temperatures known as the Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) have created a series of severe back-to-back droughts in Ethiopia and the Horn of Africa region.

In Ethiopia, the number of people now critically short of food is expected to rise by at least two million by next month, according to figures compiled by the government and its humanitarian partners.

Donors, international aid groups and the government say existing food aid for the current 7.8 million will run out as funds are critically short this year with Ethiopia receiving slightly more than half of the $930 million to meet requirements until July.

"We are in a dire situation," John Aylieff, the World Food Programme's representative in Ethiopia, said on Friday during a field trip to Warder in southeast Ethiopia, one of Ethiopia's hardest-hit areas.

"We've got food running out nationally at the end of June. That means the 7.8 million people who are in need of humanitarian food assistance in Ethiopia will see that distribution cut abruptly at the end of June," he added.

Humanitarian groups fear donor fatigue is weighing on efforts to meet requirements.

Famine in northeast Nigeria, together with South Sudan, Yemen and Somalia, constitute the worst humanitarian crisis the world has faced since 1945, the U.N. said in March.

"There is donor fatigue because there are a lot of crises," said Ahmed Al Meraikhi, the U.N. Secretary-General's humanitarian envoy.

Addis Ababa allocated $272 million extra in 2015 and a further $109 million last year from its own coffers to deal with the drought.

However the government said it faced difficulties in sustaining similar targets this year.

"Last year, we spent a lot of money to confront this type of drought. It is very challenging," said Mitiku Kassa, head of Ethiopia's National Disaster Risk Management Commission.

Across the Horn of Africa, close to 17 million people need humanitarian aid due to drought, including 2.6 million in Kenya and 3.2 million in Somalia, according to the U.N.

In the treeless plains littered with makeshift plastic homes in Ethiopia's Warder, bordering Somalia, displaced and destitute pastoralists said their entire herds had been decimated.

"We have had droughts before, but this time we have drought, diarrhoea and disease," said Ardo Yusuf, a 49-year old mother who said her entire livestock had succumbed to illness.</s>HAMBURG (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump on Saturday promised $639 million in aid to feed people left starving because of drought and conflict in Somalia, South Sudan, Nigeria and Yemen.

Trump's pledge came during a working session of the G20 summit of world leaders in Hamburg, providing a "godsend" to the United Nations' World Food Programme, the group's executive director, David Beasley, told Reuters on the sidelines of the meeting.

"We're facing the worst humanitarian crisis since World War Two," said Beasley, a Republican and former South Carolina governor who was nominated by Trump to head the U.N. agency fighting hunger worldwide.

The new funding brings to over $1.8 billion aid promised by the United States for fiscal year 2017 for the crises in the four countries, where the United Nations has estimated more than 30 million people need urgent food assistance.

"With this new assistance, the United States is providing additional emergency food and nutrition assistance, life-saving medical care, improved sanitation, emergency shelter and protection for those who have been affected by conflict," USAID said in a statement.

Rob Jenkins, acting head of the USAID's bureau of democracy, conflict and humanitarian assistance, said of the funding, over $191 million would go to Yemen, $199 million to South Sudan, $121 million to Nigeria and almost $126 million for Somalia.

Conflict in all four countries had made it difficult to reach some communities in need of food, he noted.

"We're in a dire situation right now," said Jenkins, adding that USAID was also concerned with the situation in southern Ethiopia.

"The situation in southern Ethiopia fortunately does not rise to the dire situation of the other four, but the situation is deteriorating and might very well be catastrophic without additional interventions," he said, adding that Washington had already provided some $252 million this year to Ethiopia, "but the needs continue to grow."

Beasley said the U.S. funding was about a third of what the WFP estimated was required this year to deal with urgent food needs in the four countries in crisis as well as in other areas.

The WFP estimates that 109 million people around the world will need food assistance this year, up from 80 million last year, with 10 of the 13 worst-affected zones stemming from wars and "man-made" crises, Beasley said.

"We estimated that if we didn't receive the funding we needed immediately that 400,000 to 600,000 children would be dying in the next four months," he said.

Trump's announcement came after his administration proposed sharp cuts in funding for the U.S. State Department and other humanitarian missions as part of his "America First" policy.

Beasley said the agency had worked hard with the White House and the U.S. government to secure the funding, but Trump would insist that other countries contributed more as well.

A WFP spokesman said Germany recently pledged an additional 200 million euros for food relief.
USAID announces the Trump administration dedicated $169 million to feed people facing starvation in Ethiopia and Kenya, adding to earlier assistance for those suffering from drought and conflict in the region.