Ethiopia: Quiet on Food Security Demarche But Engaged on

UNCLAS ADDIS ABABA 002690 SENSITIVE SIPDIS DEPT FOR EEB/TBB/MTAA/ABT: ARYAN; IO: RHAGEN AND JTUMINARO; OFFICE OF THE COUNSELOR: MPLOWDEN; AND AF/E: JWIEGERT E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: EAGR EAID ETRD ET SUBJECT: Ethiopia: Quiet on Food Security Demarche But Engaged on Issue REF: SECSTATE 107298 ¶1. (U) Post delivered Reftel demarche by diplomatic note to the Ethiopian Ministry of Foreign Affairs on October 20, and followed up with Tesfaye Yilma, Director General for Europe and the Americas, but did not receive a substantive reply. ¶2. (SBU) Comment: The US Mission in Addis Ababa has been engaged in intensive discussions that have taken place over the past six months, primarily in the context of USAID's preparation of an Implementation Plan for the Global Health and Food Security Initiative (GHFS),the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) process; and the deliberations of the Rural Economic Development and Food Security (RED&FS SWG),which includes most of the nations who were part of the July 2008 G-8 meeting held in L'Aquila, Italy and who subscribe to the principles. ¶3. (SBU) Comment continued. The USG manages a large agriculture and food security program in Ethiopia, and anticipates a major role in implementing the Administration's new GHFS Initiative. As such, considerable dialogue has taken place on the Initiative and its underlying principles (including the L'Aquila principles),at all levels, including between the Chief of Mission and Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MoARD) Minister. The USG works closely with its development partners - both bilateral and multilateral, in coordinating and delivering development assistance. Many of those partners were party to the G-8 Summit in L'Aquila, and the L'Aquila principles have been discussed intensively and integrated into the collective development partners' thinking. Four of the five principles (the exception being the "leverage the benefits of multilateral institutions") have already been firmly embedded in the collective approach (including by the GoE) in Ethiopia. End Comment.