Author : WFP
Year : 2009
Executive Summary
The impact of inflation that started increasing in 2005 resulted in increased food insecurity in
urban areas of Ethiopia. The prices of cereals increased by more than 100% since mid 2005 when
the country faced a spiral of price increases. The ‘new emergency’ facing the urban poor as a
result of the rapid food price increase led the Government to initiate an urban grain market
stabilization program in 2007. The program started initially in Addis Ababa and was expanded to cover 12 towns. From April 2007 the Government sold over 420,000 MT of wheat to urban consumers at a subsidized price. The Government continued with the program in 2008 and 2009 with further grain imports for the program.