WASHINGTON, July 25 /EMWNews/ -- The U.S. Government,

through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the

Department of State, has provided more than $797 million in assistance to

date to help people affected by the complex emergency in the Horn of Africa

in fiscal year 2008.



    This funding provides emergency food assistance, nutrition, health,

agriculture and food security, and water, sanitation, and hygiene

interventions, as well as assistance to refugees and conflict-affected

people in Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, and Somalia.



    Consecutive seasons of failed rains, localized civil insecurity,

periodic trade disruptions, and rising local and global food prices have

created a complex food insecurity crisis in the Horn of Africa.

Approximately 16 million people in Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, and

Somalia are in need of emergency assistance.



    According to reports from the USAID-supported Famine Early Warning

System Network (FEWS NET), which is a specialized information network that

analyzes information provided by multiple technologies located both in the

skies and on the ground, the number of food insecure people in the Horn of

Africa region is expected to continue to increase in the coming months due

to rising food costs and reduced crop production resulting from the poor

performance of the March to May rains. Poor urban populations are

particularly vulnerable to rising food prices due to a dependency on the

market for the purchase of the majority of staple food needs.



    An augmented USAID East and Central Africa Regional Office in Nairobi,

Kenya, and a U.S. Government Humanitarian Assistance Team in Addis Ababa,

Ethiopia, are monitoring conditions throughout the region and coordinating

with United Nations and international relief agencies to identify response

priorities and provide assistance to affected areas.



    For more information about USAID and its emergency humanitarian

assistance programs in the Horn of Africa, please visit:

http://www.usaid.gov/our_work/humanitarian_assistance/



    The American people, through the U.S. Agency for International

Development, have provided economic and humanitarian assistance worldwide

for nearly 50 years.



    Public Information: 202-712-4810