Countries in the Horn of Africa warned of rise in hunger
Countries in the Horn of Africa are likely to see a rise in hunger and further decline of local livelihoods in the coming months, the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has said.
Farming families struggle with the knock-on effects of multiple droughts that hit the region this year, according to information available on the FAO’s website.
Growing numbers of refugees in East Africa, meanwhile, are expected to place even more burden on already strained food and nutrition security, it said.
It further indicates that close to 12 million people across Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia are in need of food assistance, as families in the region face limited access to food and income, together with rising debt, low cereal and seed stocks, and low milk and meat production.
Terms of trade are particularly bad for livestock farmers, as food prices are increasing at the same time that market prices for livestock are low.
Farmers in the region need urgent support to recover from consecutive lost harvests and to keep their breeding livestock healthy and productive at a time that pastures are the driest in years.
“We’re dealing with a cyclical phenomenon in the Horn of Africa. But we also know from experience that timely support to farming families can significantly boost their ability to withstand the impacts of these droughts and soften the blow to their livelihoods,” Dominique Burgeon, Director of FAO’s Emergency and Rehabilitation Division was quoted as saying.
FAO has already begun disbursing emergency funds for rapid interventions in Kenya and Somalia.
It added that funds will support emergency feed and vaccinations for breeding and weak animals, repairs of water points, and seeds and tools to plant in the spring season. FAO is also working with local officials to bolster countries’ emergency preparedness across the region.
“Especially in those areas where we know natural hazards are recurring, working with the Government to further build-up their ability to mitigate future shocks is a smart intervention that can significantly reduce the need for humanitarian and food aid further down the line,” Burgeon said.
Kenya is highly likely to see another drought in early 2017 and with it a rise in food insecurity. Current estimates show some 1.3 million people are food insecure.
Based on the latest predictions, the impacts of the current drought in the southern part of the country will lessen by mid-2017, but counties in the North – in particular Turkana, Marsabit, Wajir and Mandera – will steadily get worse.
The FAO says that after two poor rainy seasons this year; Somalia is in a countrywide state of drought emergency, ranging from moderate to extreme. As a result, the Gu cereal harvest – from April to June – was 50 per cent below average, and prospects for the October-December Deyr season are very grim.
It described farming families in Ethiopia as extremely vulnerable as they have not been able to recover from the 2015 El Nino-induced drought. Some 5.6 million people remain food insecure, while millions more depend on livestock herds that need to be protected and treated to improve milk and meat production. Here, too, better access to feed and water is critical.
It further says that Somalia and Kenya are among the first countries benefiting from FAO’s new Early Warning Early Action Fund (EWEA). The fund ensures quick activation of emergency plans when there is a high likelihood of a disaster that would affect agriculture and people’s food and nutrition security.
The fund will be part of a larger Early Warning Early Action System that tracks climate data and earth imaging to determine what areas are at risk of an imminent shock and will benefit from early intervention.
By Pamela Ofori-Boateng
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