The U.S. Department of Agriculture has signed an agreement in principle with Catholic Relief Services to mobilize up to $235 million in American-grown food aid for Ethiopia and Sudan.
Separately, a U.S.-flagged vessel carrying nearly 47,000 metric tons of wheat and sorghum is sailing toward Ethiopia under the same Food for Peace program.
Key Facts
- A U.S.-flagged vessel, the Liberty Glory, is carrying nearly 47,000 metric tons of American-grown wheat and sorghum toward Ethiopia under the Food for Peace program.
- USDA has separately signed an agreement in principle with Catholic Relief Services to mobilize up to $235 million, more than 110,000 metric tons of U.S. commodities, for Ethiopia and Sudan.
- Independent assessments from the African Development Bank, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, and USDA put Ethiopia's actual wheat harvest at less than half the volume the government reports.
Addis Standard reported that the Liberty Glory departed Houston, Texas, carrying about 37,700 metric tons of sorghum and 9,200 metric tons of wheat. The outlet said the vessel has already crossed the Atlantic and rounded the southern tip of Africa, and is currently sailing toward East Africa, citing USDA and U.S. agricultural industry groups.
USDA's $235 Million Agreement With Catholic Relief Services
The shipment comes days after USDA announced its agreement in principle with CRS to provide up to $235 million in emergency food and nutrition assistance for Ethiopia and Sudan.
USDA said the package will mobilize more than 110,000 metric tons of U.S.-grown agricultural commodities for millions of people facing acute hunger and malnutrition. The assistance is delivered through CRS's existing humanitarian operations, including the Joint Emergency Operation in Ethiopia and the Sudan Emergency Project.
The agreement is authorized under Title II of the Food for Peace Act. Under USDA's "Farmers First" strategy, every commodity distributed through the program is required to be of 100 percent U.S. origin.
USDA's Deputy Under Secretary for Trade and Foreign Agricultural Affairs Michelle Bekkering said the approach is meant to return the benefits of U.S. food aid to American farmers, ranchers, and producers. She said the program is designed for "delivering aid that builds self-reliance instead of long-term dependence."
The agreement follows the transfer of the Food for Peace Title II program to USDA after the Trump administration folded USAID's humanitarian functions into the State Department in 2025. USAID had previously supplied roughly half of CRS's $1.5 billion annual budget. CRS President and CEO Sean Callahan said the new agreement arrives "at a critical moment for struggling families in Sudan and Ethiopia."
Ethiopia's Self-Sufficiency Claims Face Data Disputes
The assistance arrives amid a continuing gap between the Ethiopian government's public position and outside assessments of the country's wheat supply.
Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and the Ministry of Agriculture have repeatedly said Ethiopia has ended commercial wheat imports, reached self-sufficiency through expanded irrigation and cluster farming, and started exporting wheat to neighboring countries. Officials have also said any wheat still entering the country is intended for refugees as humanitarian aid, not domestic consumption.
In January 2025, State Minister for Agriculture and Horticulture Development Melese Mekonen, PhD, told Addis Standard that Ethiopia "has not imported wheat for the four years." He said the shift to domestic production has saved the government approximately $1 billion a year it previously spent on wheat imports.
USDA's April report puts Ethiopia's 2026/27 marketing-year wheat production at 7.0 million metric tons, an 8 percent gain over the year before. The report attributes the increase to wider irrigation coverage, better seed varieties, and increased mechanization. Even with that gain, the same report still puts Ethiopia's needed wheat and wheat-product imports at 1.4 million metric tons.
An earlier USDA report had forecast MY 2025/26 production at 6.5 million metric tons and imports at 1.3 million metric tons. That report had expected imports to keep falling as domestic output grew. The newer report shows both figures rising instead.
USDA's own forecasts show production climbing in back-to-back reports, from 6.5 million to 7.0 million metric tons. But the agency's import forecast rose too, from 1.3 million to 1.4 million metric tons, reversing the decline USDA itself had projected a year earlier.
Consumption, the report says, will climb to 8.2 million metric tons as the population grows and more people move to cities.
The report also points to a broader dietary shift toward wheat. Demand, in other words, is expected to keep outpacing what domestic farms can supply.
The two sides' harvest figures diverge sharply. Ethiopian authorities have reported harvests exceeding 23 million metric tons in recent seasons. USDA, together with the African Development Bank and the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, has independently estimated actual wheat output at under half of what officials report.
Import Dependence Persists Despite Production Gains
Independent market assessments continue to show Ethiopia relying on imported wheat, with Russia the top source, providing roughly 68%, ahead of Ukraine and Romania.
The need for outside food assistance is compounding with climate pressure. Addis Standard reported in May that the Famine Early Warning Systems Network warned an emerging El Niño pattern could suppress rainfall across the Horn of Africa later this year.
The warning cited threats to crop production in Ethiopia, Sudan, South Sudan, Kenya, and Uganda.
Farmers in the lowland districts of East Bale and West Hararghe told Addis Standard that an unusually early stop to the Belg spring rains wiped out most of what they had just planted.
The rain stopped at the exact stage when the crop needed it most. One resident of Sewena Woreda's Qasho Dambali kebele said the rains stopped almost as soon as planting finished, leaving the crop with nothing to grow on.