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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 
 
STATE 00096625  002 OF 003 
 
 
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 
 
STATE 00096625  003 OF 003 
 
 
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