The more than 1.5 million farmers and herders affected by the drought in the Horn of Africa need “urgent help” to avoid “a hunger crisis”in the region that has also suffered plagues and covid-19. This has been alerted by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).
The Rome-based body ensures that they are necessary 138 million dollars of “urgent financing” for a region “already prone to food insecurity” and in which, after three years of poor rainfall, “the COVID-19 pandemic and the plague of locusts in 2020-21 have strained the survival capacity of rural communities, undermining agricultural productivity.” In Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia, the most affected countries, projections indicate that some 25.3 million people will face severe food insecurity by mid-2022, a situation that, if materialised, would place the Horn of Africa among the biggest food crises in the world, explained the FAO in a statement.
“We know from experience that supporting agriculture at times like this has a huge impact: when we act fast and at the right time to get much-needed water, seeds, feed, veterinary care and money to rural families at risk, can prevent famine catastrophes,” said Rein Paulsen, Director of Emergencies and Resilience at FAO.
“Now is the right time. We need urgently support the shepherds and farms of the Horn,immediately, because the cycle of the seasons waits for no one,” he added.
Devastating effects in Somalia
In 2011, a severe drought contributed to an outbreak of famine in Somalia that killed 260,000 people,most of them before an official famine declaration was made, while potential drought-related famines were averted in 2017 thanks to a concerted international effort to act quickly and prioritized helping rural communities.< /p>
“The clock is ticking already,” warned Paulsen, noting that “the shortage that has just begun is characterized by limited grazing opportunities for herding families , and their livestock will need nutritional and veterinary support. Farm-dependent families, meanwhile, should have seeds and other supplies on hand to start the planting season.” FAO’s drought response plan aims to support 1.5 million of the most vulnerable rural populations in Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia.
If financed in its totality would allow to produce up to 90 million liters of milk and up to 40,000 tons of basic food crops in the first half of 2022, putting more than a million people safe for at least six months.< /p>
Source: the galtimes
