FOLLOW-UP: DONOR SUPPORT URGENTLY NEEDED FOR

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 STATE 096625

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: EAID PREF EAGR ET KE SO EUN
SUBJECT: FOLLOW-UP: DONOR SUPPORT URGENTLY NEEDED FOR
HUMANITARIAN CRISIS IN ETHIOPIA, SOMALIA AND KENYA

REF: A. A)STATE 70789

B. B) SEOUL 1144

C. C) SINGAPORE 675

D. D) THE HAGUE 4750

E. E) NAIROBI 1812

F. F) ADDIS 1556

G. G) STATE 87385

H. H) STATE 58996


1. This is an action request.


2. Action request: Ref A, transmitted July 8, 2009,
requested action addressees to approach host government
officials to urge them to provide support to meet urgent
humanitarian needs, including food assistance, in Ethiopia,
Somalia and Kenya. If Posts have not delivered the demarche,
they are requested to do so by September 26. Suggested points
from that demarche are reproduced in paragrpah five for ease
of reference. Please slug responses for USAID/FFP Carol
Mutamba; USAID/OFDA Kasey Channell, PRM Janet Deutsch, and
AF/E Joel Wiegert. End action request.


3. Update: The situation in each of the three countries has
become increasingly serious over the summer. In Ethiopia, at
least 6.2 million are now estimated to be in need of
emergency food relief, up from about 5 million several months
ago. In Somalia an estimated 3.8 million are in need of
emergency humanitarian assistance, including food aid, up
from 3.2 million several months ago. In Kenya, about 3.8
million drought-affected pastoralists and agro-pastoralists
need emergency food assistance, up from previous estimates of
about 3 million. Furthermore, in Kenya, an additional 6.1
million people in other areas face serious food insecurity
due to poverty and HIV-AIDS.


4. The United States, to date in FY 2009, has provided $350
million in humanitarian assistance for Ethiopians and
refugees in Ethiopia through both private voluntary
organizations and the World Food Program (WFP); more than
$150 million to Somalia for emergency food and non-food
assistance; and more than $191 million to Kenya for both
pastoralists as well as refugees in Kenya. The situation is
not expected to ease until at least February 2010. Relief

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agencies, including the World Food Program, face significant
shortfalls in meeting projected demand. We welcome the
September 8 announcement by the European Commission that it
is providing additional food assistance of $14 million, $29
million, and $11 million to Ethiopia, Somalia and Kenya
respectively.


5. Suggested Points from State 70789

Posts are requested to urge host governments to increase food
and non-food humanitarian
assistance, as quickly as possible, to Ethiopia, Somalia and
Kenya to address worsening food security conditions. Donor
support to meet this food crisis in Ethiopia, Somalia and
Kenya should be considered separate from commitments pledged
in support of the Food Security Initiative referred to in Ref
G (Note: ref H in this cable. End note),as a key
deliverable for the July G8 Summit in L'Aquila, Italy. The
Food Security Initiative is an initiative to boost financial
support for agricultural production in food
insecure countries so that they are able to feed themselves.
This demarche addresses urgent hunger and medical needs of
people requiring immediate assistance. Suggested talking
points follow:

-- Emergency humanitarian food and non-food assistance is
needed now to address the immediate needs of more than 12
million people in Ethiopia, Somalia and Kenya who face a
critical food security crisis. The number of people
in the three countries in urgent need of assistance this year
is higher than last year (note: this figure does not include
7.5
million chronically food insecure Ethiopians who are covered
under a special GOE food assistance program).

-- Rainfall in 2009 in the region has been poor to date, and
comes after several years of inadequate and irregular rains
that have significantly reduced crop production and withered
pastoral areas. Meanwhile, food prices driven upwards by a
variety of factors including shortages and fuel costs, are
now well above customary levels throughout East Africa.

-- In Ethiopia the number of people in immediate need of food
assistance is significantly higher than the GOE estimate of
4.9 million; USAID and other donors believe in reality 6.6
million people require food aid. Donor governments should
urge the Ethiopian government to prioritize and accelerate
movement of food and non-food humanitarian supplies up from

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Djibouti port, instead of permitting relief supplies to be
displaced by less urgent items such as cement and fertilzer,
which cannot be used until the next planting season in the
fall.

-- In Somalia, fighting between the radical Muslim group
al-Shabaab and the Transitional Federal Government has
displaced more than 160,000 people in the past two months and
severely disrupted food distribution. Reports of exceedingly
high malnutrition levels in the center of the country are
alarming -- according to relief officials the rates are the
worst reported in Somalia since the early 1990's. Fighting
has destroyed vaccines and other necessary medical supplies,
prompting relief officials to warn of cholera and measles
outbreaks among the displaced.

-- Failed rains and ongoing repercussions of the 2007-2008
post-election violence have helped drive up the number of
Kenya's food insecure to 3.5 million this year, an increase
of 1.4 million over the number in 2008. A break in the
"pipeline" of food aid deliveries has forced the World Food
Program to reduce emergency rations throughout the country.

-- The USG has provided approximately $500 million thus far
to address the urgent humanitarian needs of drought victims,
internally displaced and refugees, far more by far than any
other donor country.

-- We urge other donors to join us in stepping up
contributions to avoid further deterioration of the serious
humanitarian situation in these countries.

-- This request should be considered apart from support for
our Food Security Initiative at the G8 Summit in L'Aquila,
Italy. The Food Security Initiative is a call for more
support to food insecure countries in order to improve their
agricultural output so that they can feed themselves. This
request is for immediate food and medical assistance.

-- We urge those states unfamiliar in helping alleviate
food/medical emergencies to contact either the World Food
Program or UNICEF for information on how to contribute
funding or food and medicines.

End suggested points from State 70789.
CLINTON