(Nairobi) The risk of famine that the UN has been warning about for several months in Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia is worsening further with the now tangible prospect of another bad rainy season, the fifth in a row, alerted several UN agencies on Monday.
Posted at 4:05 p.m.
Somalia and several regions of Kenya and Ethiopia have been hit by an “unprecedented meteorological phenomenon for at least 40 years”: the succession of “four rainy seasons with low rainfall”, indicates a press release published by these UN organizations, and other partners engaged in humanitarian action.
“It is likely that the rainy season from March to May 2022 was the driest on record”, and “there is now a real risk that the [prochaine] rainy season from October to December is less than expected”, adds the text, published in particular on behalf of the World Meteorological Organization, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) or even the World Food Program (WFP).
The statement noted that the drought has already led to the death of 3.6 million head of cattle in Kenya and Ethiopia, in areas where livestock is the main source of income for local populations, while in Somalia, c t is a third of the herd that has perished since mid-2021.
Added to this is the destruction of crops and the displacement of populations in search of water and food.
More than 16.7 million people in the three countries are already in a situation of “acute food insecurity”, a figure which could increase to 20 million as of September, and increase further in the event of another unsatisfactory rainy season in the fourth quarter, note the signatories of the text.
According to them, the situation is also worsening because of the war in Ukraine, which has caused food and fuel prices to soar.
“We must now rapidly intensify actions to save lives and prevent starvation and the deaths that result from it”, adds the text, noting that funds are woefully short.
In 2017, early humanitarian mobilization averted a famine in Somalia, unlike 2011 when 260,000 people – half of them children under the age of six – died of starvation or hunger-related disorders.
According to scientists, climate change is causing an increase in extreme weather events, especially in Africa, a continent that contributes the least to global warming.