Although the rain is good news in some parts of the country, it has come to late for many crops. The hope is that the big rains of the crop year will arrive in June as they normally do. That will help ensure a crop in six months time. Meanwhile, Lutheran World Relief is reporting that the off-loading of 21,000 metric tonnes of grain in the port of Djibouti is taking longer than expected. Wheat bound for distribution in north central Ethiopia is still being moved by barge from ship to shore in a cumbersome, but unavoid-able, procedure.
Further delays lie ahead on land.
Aid officials report that the full number of trucks needed for this and other operations have not yet been assigned by the Ethiopian government's relief transportation committee. Adequate fuel supplies are in doubt as well. CLWR is responding in Ethiopia with food aid through Canadian Foodgrains Bank, and long-term agriculture and irrigation projects.