Millions in Ethiopia Face Hunger as UN Food Aid Threatened by Severe Funding Shortfall
The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has warned that 3.6 million of Ethiopia’s most vulnerable people are at risk of losing vital food and nutrition support if urgent funding is not secured. The alarm was sounded by WFP Country Director Zlatan Milisic during a press briefing from Geneva.
“Over 10 million people in Ethiopia are acutely food insecure, including three million displaced by conflict and extreme weather,” Milisic reported. “Malnutrition rates remain dangerously high.”
Severe Child Malnutrition Reaching Emergency Levels
According to WFP, more than four million pregnant or breastfeeding women and young children in Ethiopia require treatment for malnutrition. In regions like Somali, Oromia, Afar, and Tigray, the rate of child wasting has exceeded the critical emergency threshold of 15 percent.
The agency had hoped to support two million mothers and children in 2025 with lifesaving nutrition services. However, only half of the expected funding was received in 2024, forcing WFP to scale back. “We’re rapidly running out of nutritious food,” Milisic said. “If we don’t receive new funding soon, we’ll have to suspend these vital programs. We’re hopeful, but nothing has materialized yet.”
Ongoing Ration Reductions Become Routine
In the first quarter of 2025 alone, WFP provided food and nutritional aid to over three million Ethiopians. Among them were 740,000 pregnant and breastfeeding women and young children suffering from malnutrition.
Due to persistent funding shortfalls, the agency has had to reduce food rations for many. For the past year and a half, most of the 800,000 refugees supported by WFP have been receiving only 60% of their food rations. In the past nine months, food-insecure and displaced Ethiopians have been receiving just 80% of the standard rations.
Milisic also highlighted serious operational disruptions in Ethiopia’s Amhara region, where ongoing conflict has made humanitarian access increasingly difficult. “We’re seeing more carjackings, increased threats, and theft targeting aid workers, which puts our staff at risk and disrupts lifesaving deliveries for over 500,000 people,” he said.
Security Crisis Amplifies Challenges
Fighting continues in Oromia, according to media reports, while tensions are escalating once again in Tigray—where a civil war between 2020 and 2022 left an estimated 500,000 people dead. The conflict between the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) and federal authorities devastated the region and continues to affect humanitarian efforts.
Despite these challenges, WFP continues to deliver school meals to 470,000 children every month, including 70,000 from refugee communities. The agency is focusing efforts on conflict-affected and food-insecure areas, particularly in Ethiopia’s northern regions.
WFP is also working proactively in drought-prone regions like Oromia, Somali, and the Southern areas, helping over 200,000 people prepare by delivering early warning messages and cash assistance to support resilience.
Urgent Appeal for Funding
Between now and September 2025, WFP needs $222 million to continue its operations and reach its goal of supporting 7.2 million Ethiopians this year. “We have the staff, the logistics, the expertise, and the partners ready to act. What we don’t have are the financial resources to meet the scale of this crisis,” Milisic emphasized.
The situation in Ethiopia underscores the growing challenge facing global humanitarian operations as funding gaps widen while crises intensify.
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