Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what recent assessment she has made of the level of food security in Ethiopia.

Ethiopia is facing another drought in 2018, with high levels of humanitarian need. This week, the government of Ethiopia launched a humanitarian appeal which sets out that 7.9 million people are in need of emergency assistance to meet their basic food needs in 2018. This is on top of the 7.9 million people who are food insecure from year to year and are supported by the government of Ethiopia’s Productive Safety Net Programme (PSNP).

Responding to food insecurity is a top priority for the UK in Ethiopia and our work is making a real difference. DFID is currently assisting 4 million people in Ethiopia to meet their emergency food needs. Through the PSNP, we are also providing food and cash transfers to 840,000 people, building their food security. We will continue to closely monitor the level of food security in Ethiopia.