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East Africa: Agencies Warn of Emergency Crises in the Horn
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Catholic Information Service for Africa (Nairobi)
4 July 2008
Posted to the web 4 July 2008
The Horn of Africa is rapidly sliding into a humanitarian emergency, with more than 14 million people requiring urgent food aid and other assistance over the coming months.
Drought and rising food prices are at the root of the crisis, humanitarian organisations said in a joint statement on Wednesday.
The emergency is exacerbated by the erosion of livelihoods among the landless, pastoralists, internally displaced persons and the urban poor. Disease outbreaks fuelled by poor hygiene and sanitation in drought affected areas, and poor health and nutrition services including low immunization coverage, are additional high risks for mothers and children.
Alarmed by the situation, members of the Regional Humanitarian Partnership Team in Nairobi called upon governments in the region and all humanitarian partners to act promptly to save lives and prevent an escalation of the crisis.
In Ethiopia, 4.6 million people are in need of emergency food support, an increase from 2.2 million in the period from January to March. An additional 5.7 million drought affected people will require extended support.
The food and livelihood crisis in Somalia is already critical after very poor rains in the southern and central parts combined with violence and limited or no access to the affected populations. Consequently, the number of vulnerable people has increased by 40 percent since January to 2.6 million, representing 35 percent of the population.
Kenya is experiencing widespread food insecurity with 1.2 million people in need and an estimated 70 percent of the population affected by rising food prices, which have gone up by between 30 and 50 percent.
In Uganda, the north-eastern Karamoja region is experiencing a prolonged dry spell and crop diseases in addition to conflict and under-development.
In Eritrea, the likelihood of drought this cropping season is high. The Bahri rains from October 2007 to February 2008 failed.
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In Djibouti, rainfall is 50 percent below the normal pattern. Some 80,000 people are in acute food and livelihood crisis.
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