China Supports Ethiopian School Feeding Program

China will continue to sustain Ethiopia’s School Feeding Program in its capital, Addis Ababa, providing healthy food and education opportunities to tens of thousands of destitute children, a testimony to the strategically important diplomatic relations established between the two countries.

H.E. La Yifan, Chinese Ambassador in Ethiopia, stated that the Embassy, the China Foundation for Poverty Alleviation (CFPA) and the Chinese business community in Ethiopia have been supporting the program aimed at benefiting the young people who are the future of the nation. He solicited the support in China, not only from organisations, but also from individual contributions to the school feeding program.

The Ambassador made this statement during a special event, organised in connection with the School Feeding Program, jointly implemented by the Office of the First Lady of Ethiopia Roman Tesfaye and Ye Enat Weg Charitable Association. The School Feeding Program benefits 20,000 students at primary schools in the capital, Addis Ababa.

Furthermore, the Ambassador emphasised China’s commitment to supporting Ethiopia’s social and economic development, highlighting the great regard in which Ethiopia is held by the Asian country.

Ethiopia in recent years has seen a glaring surge in the number of Chinese immigrants in its territory: in just two years more than 40,000 Chinese people have settled in the most densely populated landlocked country in the world. Chinese immigrants are the vibrant entrepreneurial core in Ethiopia, and estimates assess that each Chinese employer gives work to 15-20 Ethiopians, thereby empowering and raising more than one million people from poverty.

Moreover, Chinese companies, largely funded by Chinese government loans, have invested heavily in Ethiopia on account of its political stability, investment in higher education, fast economic growth, proximity to the Middle Eastern market and preferential access it has been given by the European Union and US markets.

China’s direct help in hunger eradication, schooling and poverty alleviation has supported whole families and effectively decreased the refugee problem by reducing the need for Ethiopians to risk their lives travelling to Europe in search of work. Moreover, it is a clear example dispelling the negative criticism that China solely enters into business relationships with African countries in order to extract resources.