Read at : Google Alert - drought
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5j-MM290Eb3AwPnSbeZHwCy7Avztg
14 million in Horn of Africa facing food emergency: agencies
NAIROBI (AFP) — Some 14 million people in the Horn of Africa are facing food shortages in an acute emergency worsened by war, drought and rising prices, aid agencies warned Wednesday. The Somali conflict, frontier tension in Eritrea, Ethiopia and Djibouti and Asmara’s clampdown on aid operations have each stoked the crisis, with the agencies pressing for urgent intervention from governments and donors. “Large areas of the Horn of Africa are facing — or rapidly sliding into — a state of humanitarian emergency with more than 14 million people requiring urgent food aid and other humanitarian assistance over the coming months,” they said in a joint statement. Six UN agencies, World Vision International, Care international and Handicap International called on governments and donors “to act promptly to save lives and prevent an escalation of the crisis.”
“A combination of drought conditions and rising food prices is driving the crisis which is affecting populations already food insecure due to conflict, displacement and a drop in food production.
“The emergency is exacerbated by the erosion of livelihoods among the landless, pastoralists, internally displaced persons and the urban poor across the region,” the statement added.
“Disease outbreaks fueled by poor hygiene and sanitation in drought-affected areas, and poor health and nutrition services including low immunisation coverage, are additional high risks for mothers and children.”
They said that although Ethiopia and Somalia are the worst affected, parts of Eritrea, Djibouti, Kenya and Uganda are showing similarly ominous signs.
Some 4.6 million Ethiopians need emergency food support, an increase from 2.2 million in the period from January to March 2008 while an additional 5.7 million drought-affected others require extended support — food or cash.
At least 2.6 million Somalis are facing acute shortages, but the figure may increase to 3.5 million by the end of 2008, worsened the withdrawal of aid workers owing to worsening insecurity.
The price of imported rice has increased up to 350 percent between January 2007 and May 2008 in Somalia, a nation of up to 10 million that has been wracked by violence since the 1991 overthrow of dictator Mohamed Siad Barre.
Kenya, recovering from months of post-election violence, is experiencing widespread food insecurity with 1.2 million people in need of urgent supplies while 70 percent of the country’s 35 million are suffering from steep food prices.
The agencies said 707,000 people in Uganda’s pastoralist region of Karamoja are in dire need of food.
Another 80,000 are locked in an acute food and livelihood crisis in Djibouti while in Eritrea, a combination of drought and the knock-on effect of global food price increases is likely to have humanitarian consequences.
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