Disaster Risk Commission seeks 2 mln tons of domestic food aid

The federal office in charge of disaster response estimates that over two million metric tons of food are required from domestic sources to address the country’s persisting humanitarian assistance needs.

Heads of the National Disaster Risk Management Commission presented a report titled “From aid recipient to productivity for national sovereignty and freedom” to senior officials from various ministries this week.

In it, they assert the need for sourcing 1.5 million metric tons of emergency food assistance and an additional half a million tons for the national food security reserve to manage humanitarian issues throughout the country. The figures represent the volume of food the government is looking to source domestically, and do not include forecasts for external aid donations.

The report reveals the Somali region is in need of 358,000 tons of the total, while Oromia requires 351,000 tons, a further 290,000 tons for the Amhara region, and 184,500 tons for Tigray, among others.

The document states that regional administrations must cover a portion of the needs, and at any time, keep reserves for emergencies.

Regional states hosting more than 26,000 IDPs are slated for priority in the distribution of emergency assistance from national reserves, according to the Commission.

The document proposes the cultivation of over 250,000 hectares of farmland to meet the huge humanitarian needs. It also highlights the need for non-food aid items, including 400,000 aid kits. Half of these are slated for distribution while the other half are to be kept in reserve. The kits include equipment for cooking food, clothing, and shelter.

Officials aspire to see domestic resource capabilities grow to address all humanitarian needs independently by 2030.

Self-sufficiency in aid and shifting towards productivity, is the new theme imbedded in Ethiopia’s disaster risk management policy, which is recently approved.

“Ensuring self-sufficiency in aid, is realizing national sovereignty and honor,” Shiferaw Teklemariam (PhD), commissioner of NDRMC, told the officials.