By Jason McLure
(Bloomberg) — Ethiopia’s grain harvest from last year’s long rainy season was 334,000 tons smaller than forecast, the Central Statistical Agency said.
The Horn of Africa nation produced 16.1 million metric tons of grain during last year’s September to November harvest, compared with the 16.5 million tons forecast by the agency in January, according to a report published yesterday in the capital, Addis Ababa. The latest report uses a broader sampling method.
More than 10 million people in the Horn of Africa country are in need of emergency food aid, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Assistance. The figure includes more than 5 million people who already receive aid six months of the year.
Rates of malnutrition among children continue to rise in Ethiopia, OCHA said in a report e-mailed to reporters yesterday. Much of the current hunger crisis in Ethiopia is due to the failure of the country’s short rains in February and March.