Africa-Press – Ethiopia. October 10, 2025 2 minutes read Addis Abeba- The UN World Food Programme (WFP) has warned that refugees in Ethiopia face worsening hunger as severe funding shortages have forced the agency to cut food rations.
In a statement shared with Addis Standard, the WFP said it was forced to reduce rations for 780,000 refugees in 27 camps across Ethiopia from a 60 percent ration to just 40 percent. “Only 70,000 newly arrived refugees who fled conflict in neighboring Sudan and South Sudan will continue to receive full rations for the next six months. “Hunger and malnutrition rates are very high among the new refugees,” the statement read.
“We are making impossible choices,” said Zlatan Milisic, WFP Ethiopia Country Director and Representative. “We are trying to reach as many refugees as possible with meaningful amounts of food assistance. But without more funds, these reductions are just another step towards stopping food distributions completely, putting the lives of those we currently assist at risk.”
“This isn’t a future risk—it’s happening right now. Every ration cut is a child left hungrier, a mother forced to skip meals, a family pushed closer to the edge,” said Milisic.
Earlier this week, Ethiopia reiterated concern over inadequate international support for hosting South Sudanese refugees. Speaking at the 76th Session of the UNHCR Executive Committee in Geneva, Teyiba Hassen, Director General of the Refugees and Returnees Service (RRS), said Ethiopia is currently hosting South Sudanese emergency new arrivals “without adequate support from the international community.” She warned that the growing influx is putting additional pressure on already limited resources, public services, and local infrastructure.
This is not the first time the WFP issued a warning over funding shortages. In May the agency warned of an impending pipeline break, citing persistent funding gaps. In its April country brief, the agency said it was “compelled to reduce ration size back to 65 percent of the standard ration from 80 percent in February,” with the current basket comprising “9 kg of cereals, 1 kg of pulses, and 1.1 kg of oil.”
In June, the WFP closed its office in Shire, northwestern Tigray, a town hosting the largest concentration of internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the region, citing budget constraints and operational restructuring.
According to the statement, WFP is urgently calling for US$230 million to sustain humanitarian operations for the next six months. Without immediate new funding, WFP could be forced to completely suspend food assistance for all refugees in Ethiopia in the coming months.
This comes as an estimated 10 million people in Ethiopia are projected to require humanitarian assistance in 2025, while the total number of refugees and asylum seekers in need of support is expected to reach 1.1 million, mainly from South Sudan, Somalia, Eritrea, and Sudan.
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