Ethiopia has welcomed a US decision to resume food aid to Africa's second-most populous nation after a months-long halt over the diversion of donated supplies.
The United States announced on Tuesday it would resume deliveries of food aid next month, after Ethiopia's government agreed to allow monitoring following allegations of diversion to soldiers.
The US Agency for International Development (USAID) said it would resume deliveries for an initial period of one year during which it will check pledges by Addis Ababa to allow enhanced monitoring of aid shipments including tracking donated food supplies.
"We welcome the decision of the USAID to resume food assistance in Ethiopia. It is imperative to expedite the food aid resumption process to reach all those in need," Deputy Prime Minister Demeke Mekonnen said on X on Wednesday.
Resale of donated food
USAID and the UN's World Food Programme (WFP) halted all food aid to Ethiopia in June, alleging a "widespread and coordinated" campaign to divert donated supplies.
The United States has not publicly named the culprits, but aid groups have blamed both the federal and regional authorities, with soldiers benefiting from the resale of donated food.
The WFP and USAID partly resumed aid delivery in October but only to refugees on Ethiopian soil.
Around 20 million people in Ethiopia depend on food aid, according to the UN's humanitarian agency OCHA.
Strained relations
Relations between Washington and Addis Ababa – once a close US ally – soured over Ethiopia's two-year war with rebel authorities in the Tigray region.
US officials and UN investigators have alleged that Ethiopia's government deliberately withheld food from Tigray, using hunger as a weapon of war.
The government denied the allegations, accusing Tigray's rebel authorities of commandeering food aid for their war effort.
The conflict came to an end after Ethiopia's government and the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) signed a peace deal a year ago.
