Several international partners have suspended aid since the outbreak of conflict between the federal government and rebels in the Tigray region in November 2020, which has become a humanitarian crisis.

In a statement the Ethiopian finance ministry announced the signing of a “financing agreement” with the World Bank.

It includes “US$600 million (US$200 million in form of grant and US$400 million in form of credit), for the implementation of Food Systems Resilience programme”.

These funds “will be used to finance the improvement of the resilience of food systems and food insecurity preparedness”, the ministry said.

The agreement is then set to provide grant funding of US$115 million for a Horn of Africa pastoral economies project.

This will “enable the region to adapt to the impacts of climate change, commercialise livestock production in pastoralist communities, and ensure inclusion of the marginalised and vulnerable groups, such as women, in the sector,” the ministry said.

Some observers noted a link between the funding and the Ethiopian government’s recent announcement of a “humanitarian truce”, which had been called for by Washington.

Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed announced on June 19 that a committee was studying possible peace negotiations with the Tigray People’s Liberation Front.

In April, the World Bank gave Ethiopia a US$300 million grant to help communities affected by the conflict.