Relief officials concerned over malnutrition among children in Ethiopian refugee camps despite food aid

Nov 24 2011

Humanitarian aid officials are concerned about high levels of malnutrition among young children at the Dolo Ado refugee camps in southern Ethiopia "despite the free availability of Plumpy'nut, a peanut-based paste in a plastic wrapper for treatment of severe acute malnutrition," the Guardian reports. "'Maybe they're not eating it properly,' said Giorgia Testolin, head of the refugee section of the World Food Programme Ethiopia. 'The food is there, there is easy access, but why is the situation so bad? This needs to be investigated,'" the newspaper writes, adding a report (.pdf) out last month from USAID and the Famine Early Warning System (FEWS NET) noted some refugees, including children, sell or trade Plumpy'nut for other supplies, such as sugar, tea leaves, powder milk and meat. Overcrowding in the camps also presents problems, as 8,000 people await the opening of a fifth camp, which has been delayed because proper sanitation facilities are not yet ready, according to relief officials, the newspaper notes (Tran, 11/22).