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Ethiopia said on Friday that 4.9 million of its people will need emergency food aid in the first six months of 2009 due to drought and appealed for $390 million from donors to pay for it.
That figure represents a fall of 1.5 million from last October, when the government of Prime Minister Meles Zenawi said 6.4 million people needed urgent help to stave off hunger.
Friday's statement said poor rains and high global commodity prices had triggered food insecurity in the huge Horn of African country last year, but lamented that there had been only a "limited response" from the international community.
Many Africans fear the global credit crunch will mean rich nations send less aid to the world's poorest continent.
The figures for those needing emergency food aid do not include Ethiopians who regularly suffer hunger and already receive cash or food handouts from the government. Aid agency Oxfam said that figure was 7.2 million people in 2008.
PHOTO CAPTION
A boy eats raw chick-peas plucked from a family plot in a drought-stricken area of Oromiya region while listening to an assessment team from the Ethiopian Red Cross Society, January 14, 2009.
Reuters
