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Ethiopia's economy is highly dependent on agriculture. The agriculture industry in Ethiopia is overwhelmingly subsistence farming and is entirely dependent on rainfall. This coupled with the fact that the country has been suffering from recurring and severe droughts puts big chunks of Ethiopia's citizens in a vulnerable position when it comes to food security. In most instances, they are actually forced to rely on international food aid. Currently, every year, there are 5 million people that are chronically food insecure and in addition, 2-5 million people need temporary help because of sporadic droughts that hit different areas of the country, especially in the Afar and Somali States. The government of Ethiopia and the Coalition for Food Security (a group made up of donors including the Italian Development Cooperation) has put in place a strategic plan in order to find a permanent solution to the chronically food insecure population.
Recent Italian Response to Food Shortage & Emergencies
There has been a long standing commitment on the part of the Italian Government to help Ethiopia attain food security. This is reflected in the kind of food aid that is given by Italy to Ethiopia. Italian food aid has always been in the form of a grant. Over the past two years, Italy has given 3.5 million euros in food aid to the Ethiopian government. Out of the 3.5 million euros, 3 million was used to purchase food aid in the Ethiopian markets.
It is well known that locally purchased food aid supports farmers and markets during times of food insecurity. Purchasing food locally ensures cash flow into the Ethiopian agriculture economy and helps alleviate rural poverty by putting money in farmers' pockets.
In addition, in 2003 the Italian Government contributed 3 million euros towards the fund of United Nations World Food Program (WFP) to help small scale farmers and drought affected pastoralists.
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