East Africa Child Hunger and Famine Relief Fund

The month of May failed to bring any reprieve to drought-ravaged parts of Ethiopia, with the humanitarian situation threatening to unravel quickly. 

Across the country at least 7.8 million people – including 4 million children – have been hit by drought and are struggling to get enough food and water to feed themselves and their livestock. This number could now rise further, with authorities already carrying out an assessment of the situation.

"The drought in southern Ethiopia has been going from bad to worse and risks developing into a humanitarian catastrophe if action is not taken immediately," said John Graham, Country Director for Save the Children in Ethiopia.

"The much-hoped for spring rains in the south failed in April and May which means we are likely to see six more months without rainfall. The rapid deterioration of the situation means that food supplies, which were expected to last until September, could run out this month."

Southern Ethiopia experiences the same rain system as Somalia, South Sudan and Kenya, which have all been hit by drought, but a different rain system to the north of the country which last year saw the worst drought in 50 years, leaving 18 million people in need. While northern parts of Ethiopia have recently been lashed with rain and seen flooding, the south has not seen proper rainfall since April 2016 and is now not expected to have any further rain until October.

Thanks to supporters such as yourself, Save the Children has already reached more than 300,000 people in Ethiopia with emergency assistance this year, including 140,000 children, in the Southern Nations and Nationalities People, Somali and Oromia regions that have been worst hit.