Millions in Ethiopia at risk as UN warns of catastrophic hunger crisis
Funding shortfall forces WFP to suspend aid for hundreds of thousands of malnourished women and children
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (MNTV) — The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has issued an urgent warning that millions in Ethiopia are just “one shock away from catastrophe,” as escalating conflict, displacement, and climate extremes push the country toward a worsening hunger crisis.
In a statement released this week, WFP Ethiopia country director Zlatan Milišić announced that beginning in May, the agency will be forced to suspend life-saving nutrition support for over 650,000 malnourished women and children due to a critical funding gap.
The crisis comes amid a convergence of humanitarian emergencies.
Over 10 million people across Ethiopia are currently facing food insecurity, driven by the lingering impacts of the Tigray conflict, new violence in the Amhara and Oromia regions, a prolonged drought in the southeast, and a growing influx of refugees from neighboring Sudan and South Sudan.
“The funding shortfall couldn’t come at a worse time,” Milišić said.
“Without urgent donor support, the most vulnerable—especially women and children—will be left without essential aid.”
The WFP reports a $222 million shortfall in the funds required to sustain its operations through September 2025.
The agency warns that, without new contributions, it could be forced to cut food and in-kind assistance for up to one million refugees in Ethiopia by June.
In the first quarter of 2025, the WFP provided food and nutrition assistance to over three million people in Ethiopia, including refugees who made up nearly one-third of recipients.
However, increasing insecurity is complicating aid delivery, especially in conflict-hit areas like Amhara, where more than 500,000 people remain unreachable due to violence.
Meanwhile, the Somali Regional State continues to struggle with poor rainfall forecasts and the aftermath of a devastating multi-year drought that ended in 2023, raising fears of renewed famine conditions.
The WFP said its current crisis is not due to cuts from any single donor government but reflects a broader decline in global humanitarian funding.
Despite strong past support from international donors, the agency stressed that current contributions fall far short of what’s needed to prevent a full-scale humanitarian disaster.
The UN has urged governments, institutions, and private donors to step forward to avert what it calls a preventable crisis in a country of 130 million people already grappling with deep instability.
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