Nearly 9 million Ethiopians to need food aid in '08

ADDIS ABABA, March 11 (Reuters) - Nearly 9 million people in Ethiopia's pastoral regions will need food aid this year despite a projected bumper harvest for 2007/08, a U.S.-funded research group said on Tuesday.

"About eight million chronically food insecure people and an additional 952,503 acutely food insecure people in Ethiopia will require food or cash assistance in 2008," said the Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS Net) in a report.

Ethiopia says it expects an overall harvest of 16.5 million tonnes in the current 2007/08 season on good weather and better planting.

The group -- funded by the aid wing of the U.S. government -- said pastoralists in Ethiopia's Somali, Oromo and Gambella regions were the worst hit.

The United Nations said earlier this month that more than one million people were suffering from drought in Ethiopia's Somali and Borena regions.

The network's report said livestock prices and demand have declined especially for goats and cattle. Livestock exports are a key source of hard currency for the Horn of Africa nation. (Reporting by Tsegaye Tadesse; Editing by Jack Kimball)