pandemic, war and drought are having devastating effects on the Horn of Africa

The director of the American development assistance agency, Samantha Power, has pledged more than a billion dollars to try to avoid famine in the Horn of Africa hit again by drought. One of the worst in forty years.

“As of today, at least 7 million head of cattle have already died in Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia. There is simply not enough water to quench their thirst or enough grass to feed them ( …) Without a massive infusion of resources from around the world, Unicef ​​predicted an explosion in child deaths”

Samantha Power, Director of the United States Agency for Development Assistance

Speech at the Center for Strategic and International Studies research center

For several weeks now, international agencies working against food insecurity have been warning against the situation in the world and particularly in the Horn of Africa.

In Ethiopia alone, nearly ten million people, including 4.4 million children, are in emergency situations in drought-affected areas where the malnutrition rate is “alarming” emphasizes UNICEF. The children are hungry and thirsty and are forced to drink contaminated water which puts them in danger.

“The impact of drought on children is devastating (…) It leads to malnutrition and other preventable deadly diseases like diarrhoea”

Manuel Fontaine, director of emergency operations at UNICEF

In addition to the drought which is decimating herds and crops, the countries of the region are suffering the consequences of the war in Ukraine, the main exporter of wheat and other agricultural products in Africa. Oil, bread, cereals… the prices are skyrocketing and very few families manage to get supplies on the local markets. Even before the war, millions of people could no longer feed themselves properly in several countries because of the Covid pandemic, as we detailed in a previous article on food insecurity in Africa.

The UN, which had pledged to eradicate hunger in the world by 2030, now says that we are moving away “dangerously” of this objective.