Ethiopians exposed to hungry season - ReliefWeb - July 17, 2008

When imagining a drought affected area, stretches of arid, dusty land is what comes to mind. Yet much of West Arsi zone in Southern Ethiopia is deceptively green.

Here people call it "green hunger" - a period of food shortage following the failure of the first harvest, when the second harvest is months away.

Earlier this year drought resulted in almost total harvest failure and widespread death of livestock in this and other regions of the country.

Now Ethiopia finds itself in the grip of a complex humanitarian crisis, triggered not only by drought but by global inflation of food and fuel prices. The impacts are being felt throughout the Horn of Africa and amongst the worst affected are the 4.6 million people identified by the Government of Ethiopia who require emergency food assistance. The situation is expected to escalate further as the hunger season progresses. Read More.