O 011256Z JUL 08
FM AMEMBASSY ADDIS ABABA
TO SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 1150
INFO AMEMBASSY ASMARA 
AMEMBASSY DJIBOUTI 
AMEMBASSY NAIROBI 
AMEMBASSY BRUSSELS 
USMISSION GENEVA 
AMEMBASSY LONDON 
AMEMBASSY ROME 
USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 
DEPT OF INTERIOR WASHDC
DEPT OF AGRICULTURE WASHDC
USCINCCENT MACDILL AFB FL//CCJ2/CCJ5/CCJS//
DIA WASHDC
CJTF HOA
NSC WASHDC

UNCLAS ADDIS ABABA 001787 
 
STATE DEPARTMENT FOR A/S FRAZER, DAS AF JSWAN, AF/E, AF/PDPA, OES, 
A/S PRM SAUERBREY, AND PRM/AFR 
AFR/AA KALMQUIST, WWARREN, LKELLEY, KNELSON, CTHOMPSON, BDUNFORD 
DCHA/AA MHESS, GGOTTLIEB 
DCHA/OFDA KLUU, ACONVERY, CCHAN, PMORRIS, KCHANNELL 
DCHA/FFP JBORNS, PMOHAN, SANTHONY, PBERTOLIN 
LONDON, PARIS, ROME FOR AFRICA WATCHER 
CJTF-HOA AND USCENTCOM FOR POLAD 
USDA/FAS FOR U/S PENN, RTILSWORTH, AND LPANASUK 
NAIROBI FOR OFDA/ECARO JMYER, GPLATT, RFFPO NCOX, USAID/EA 
ROME FOR AMBASSADOR, OHA, HSPANOS 
BRUSSELS FOR USEU PBROWN 
GENEVA FOR NKYLOH, RMA 
USUN FOR TMALY 
NSC FOR PMARCHAN 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: EAID PHUM SENV EAGR PGOV ET
SUBJECT: ETHIOPIA - USG/HAT - MEETING WITH WFP 
 
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SUMMARY 
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¶1. Senior World Food Program (WFP) officials - the Country Director 
for Ethiopia and the Chief of the Logistics Division in Rome - 
briefed USAID officials Friday June 27 on the current transport 
situation and its capacity to meet food aid imports over the coming 
months.  There is little capacity to spare at the Port of Djibouti, 
especially on the storage side.  But if incoming food aid shipments 
are managed efficiently, WFP believes that there is the offloading 
and trucking capacity to keep resources flowing smoothly.  This will 
require coordination on the part of all importers of food aid and 
commercial goods.  WFP also emphasized that its worldwide shipping 
was operating at full capacity, meaning that - contrary to the 
situation a few years ago - there is almost no WFP "floating 
inventory" to divert for borrowing given the limited grain in the 
Ethiopia Food Security Reserve (EFSRA).  End Summary. 
 
---------------------- 
DJIBOUTI PORT UPDATE 
---------------------- 
 
¶2. Senior WFP logistics officials visited the Port of Djibouti 
during the week, to assess port capacity to handle the food aid 
shipments scheduled to arrive in the coming months.  Under review 
were port offloading and storage facilities.  WFP also reviewed the 
requirements and capacity to maintain a steady stream of trucks 
between the port and the several Ethiopian hubs where food is 
offloaded and then transshipped, according to DPPA (Disaster 
Preparedness and Prevention Agency) dispatch schedules. 
 
¶3. Fertilizer imports normally occur between October and April, when 
they can amount to 400,000 MTs.  However, the coming three months 
will be free from competition for berthing space by fertilizer 
imports.  Three berths at the port are capable of handling the food 
aid cargo scheduled to arrive between now and the end of September. 
NOTE: In a prior meeting to discuss port capacity, WFP explained 
that the current bulk cereals discharge capacity at the Port of 
Djibouti is 120 - 150,000 metric tons (MTs) per month.  If 
additional capacity is required in the coming three months, this can 
be augmented by 110,000 MTs through the use of conventional cranes 
and - once cleaned and inspected -- facilities normally used for 
fertilizer imports.  This total, augmented capacity meets and 
exceeds all anticipated food aid imports for the coming months. 
 
¶4. WFP emphasized the importance of coordinating the "upstream 
pipeline" - starting in October - to mesh food arrivals with 
commercial imports, to avoid competing for the same overland 
transporters.  One concern was that NGO food aid shipment schedules 
are now an unknown.  WFP requested that call forwards for NGO 
requirements not be made on a "through-shipment" basis, instead 
suggesting that WFP be the overland transport agent for NGO food 
commodities between the port and major hubs.  WFP would be prepared 
to undertake the overland transport, based on the actual transport 
cost to each hub, plus a 4.5 percent administrative fee 
(headquarters) and $2.50/MT to cover local administrative costs. WFP 
said there are about 5,000 long haul trucks operating between 
Djibouti to Ethiopia. The agency is contracting 1,800 from 21 
different transporters and does not foresee problems with truck 
availability at this time. 
 
¶5. WFP met recently with the Ethiopian Ministry of Transport to 
re-activate a coordination mechanism crucial to ensuring that 
everyone is aware of the schedule of incoming commodities purchased 
by the public and private sectors.  Close coordination is required 
to avoid "commandeering" of transport assets at the last moment, 
something which has occurred in the past.  WFP/Ethiopia's logistics 
head will ensure that there is regular coordination with Government 
officials (DPPA, Ministry of Transport, Customs) and WFP and USAID. 
NOTE: WFP will also hold a logistics coordination meeting this 
Thursday, to be attended by USAID as well as UN agencies and NGOs. 
Eventually, a decision will be made whether to set up a formal 
Logistics Cluster (co-chaired by the Government and WFP) or to keep 
the coordination mechanism less formal. 
 
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INLAND TRANSPORT CHALLENGES 
----------------------------- 
 
¶6. Government capacity to manage the inland transport (dispatches, 
distributions, and final deliveries) has already proven inadequate. 
Word about town is that the DPPA - as of this week - is to become 
the Early Warning and Response Department of the Ministry of 
Agriculture and Rural Development.  If this occurs precipitously, it 
is likely that more serious management issues will occur, just when 
the relief beneficiary caseload is increasing.  At the same time, 
the situation in the Somali region is deteriorating and likely to 
become an even more serious emergency (septel). Anticipating the 
possibility that WFP would have to step in and be more directly 
involved in food deliveries, USAID inquired if WFP was developing 
contingency plans to augment their own, and possibly government, 
capacity.  WFP indicated that internal discussions were underway and 
that USAID/OFDA (and other donors) might be approached for funding 
of emergency logistics augmentation. NOTE: In a follow-up phone 
call, WFP indicated that this plan is being worked on and will be 
shared with USAID soon - likely this week. 
 
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PIPELINE FRAGILE 
----------------- 
 
¶7. The meeting ended with a general discussion of the resources 
required to meet both the safety net and the relief caseloads over 
the coming months.  Despite ongoing USAID efforts to obtain 
additional (for example, supplemental) resources in the near term, 
WFP repeatedly emphasized that "the existing 340,000 MTs relief 
pipeline gap in 2008 represented a huge red flag," and that more 
food was required.  The actual gap for WFP portion of the relief 
effort, reported in the June 26 WFP external bulletin, is 259,000 
metric tons.  There is practically no borrowing possible from the 
EFSRA because more than two-thirds of the grain stocks were allowed 
to be borrowed by the Ethiopian Grain Trade Enterprise (EGTE) 
without reimbursement requirement.  What little borrowing capacity 
exists has been programmed tightly to cover about half the needs 
during July and August.  WFP emphasized that food aid arrivals in 
port during the first half of one month, say August, would not be 
distributed to beneficiaries until the following month (September), 
and that arrivals the second half of any given month would not be 
distributed until yet another month (e.g., October with a late 
August arrival).  The bottom line -- emphasized by both the Country 
Director and international Logistics Head -- was a desperate need 
for more food as soon as possible. 
 
¶8. USAID/Ethiopia is following with Food for Peace, to ascertain 
what additional resources can be set aside for Ethiopia. 
 
YAMAMOTO