Mereja.Forum

[Revelations]

USAID said its probe has identified “a country-wide diversion scheme primarily targeting donor-funded food commodities”, according to an internal memo of a recent meeting by the donor community in Ethiopia, obtained by the Addis Standard newspaper.

The scheme “appears to be orchestrated” by federal and regional governments entities, “with military units across the country benefiting from humanitarian assistance”, the memo, prepared by the Humanitarian and Resilience Donor Group (HRDG), to which USAID is a part, reportedly said. “Private grain and flour traders and operators have also played a role in the scheme,” it added.

The HRDG memo noted that the scale of the food theft could extend to seven of Ethiopia’s nine regions. Monitoring visits to 63 flour mills “witnessed significant diversion of USAID-funded humanitarian food commodities across all seven regions”, it read.

“International organisations and donors have known for years that aid is syphoned off for sale, but have chosen to turn a blind eye to the practice,” Ethiopia researcher and author Martin Plaut told The New Humanitarian. “It is welcome so see that finally this appears to be being abandoned.”

[Revelations]

[Revelations]