USAID has suspended all food aid to Ethiopia, after an internal investigation found that food aid intended for millions of hungry people had been misappropriated on a large scale.
It’s not clear who was behind the thefts, but when agency director Samantha Power briefed the Senate Foreign Relations Committee this spring on the first findings of the massive theft of food aid in Ethiopia’s northern Tigray region, she said the thefts appeared to “involve collusion” between parties on both sides. In the conflict between the government and the rebels.
She was also critical that the “widespread and coordinated” aid thefts were not detected more quickly, calling it a “systemic failure”.
The United States is the largest single donor to Ethiopia and last year provided $1.8 billion in humanitarian assistance, including food aid, to the country. In total, 20 million of Ethiopia’s population of about 120 million need aid due to drought and conflict.
Just over a month ago, the United Nations World Food Program decided to stop sending food to Ethiopia’s conflict-torn Tigray region after reports of food misappropriation.
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