WASHINGTON DC, USA — The U.S. Agency for International Development, USAID, has announced the suspension of food aid to Ethiopia after an internal investigation revealed an extensive plot to misappropriate donated food.
Leaked documents, shared with The Washington Post, suggest factions within the Ethiopian government are coordinating the scheme.
“Following a country-wide review, USAID, in collaboration with the Government of Ethiopia, has discovered a widespread and coordinated campaign diverting food assistance,” a USAID spokesperson stated on Thursday, June 8, 2023. “We cannot proceed with the distribution of food aid until the necessary reforms are implemented.”
USAID’s investigation discovered that officials have been misdirecting aid away from those in need, using it instead to sustain the military and ex-combatants, and selling it on the open market.
The investigation details how this illicit food ends up in the hands of millers who subsequently export the repurposed flour.
The suspension of food aid arrives at a critical time for Ethiopia, Africa’s second-most populous nation.
Approximately 20 million citizens, accounting for about one-sixth of the population, are struggling with food insecurity due to the impacts of a civil war, drought, and inflation.
The United States is the principal provider of food aid to Ethiopia through two programs administered by aid groups and the United Nations (UN).
The halt in aid distribution will likely destabilize the already volatile Horn of Africa region further, which is grappling with a civil war in Sudan, a drought in Somalia, and potential famine.
It may also push Ethiopia closer to Russia after a period of strained relations with the United States due to alleged human rights abuses during a two-year civil war in northern Ethiopia.
The USAID report divulged that the investigative team had visited 63 flour mills across seven of Ethiopia’s nine regions, and found “significant diversion” in all seven. Donated food from the United States, Ukraine, Japan, and France destined for the United Nations World Food Program has been stolen.
An anonymous aid worker suggested that local officials in charge of beneficiary lists had inflated the number of households in need and barred food from reaching hungry families.
Ethiopia is one of the largest recipients of U.S. food aid globally, and this revelation raises questions about the oversight of beneficiaries’ lists and the measures in place to detect and prevent such widespread looting.
Just over a month ago, USAID announced that it was suspending all aid to Tigray, a region in northern Ethiopia severely impacted by civil war. Days later, the World Food Program (WFP) also announced a suspension of aid in Tigray due to similar concerns.
The WFP plans to carry out real-time needs assessments, strengthen checks on beneficiary lists, bolster centralized oversight, and improve the tracking of commodities, according to WFP spokeswoman Annabel Symington.
Evidence suggests that stolen food aid has been used to feed military personnel and former fighters in Tigray, where more than 90% of the population requires food assistance. Furthermore, wheat flour made from donated supplies has been exported to Kenya and Somalia while Ethiopians starve.
USAID’s suspension of food aid signifies a significant blow to Ethiopia and sends a clear message to other recipient countries: aid misappropriation will not be tolerated, and swift action will be taken to protect the integrity of humanitarian assistance programs.
