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E. Africa on verge of a humanitarian crisis as hunger rages June 19, 2017

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According to the charity, an estimated 20 million people are at risk of starvation in South Sudan, Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia unless provision of relief food is stepped up by national governments and bilateral donors.

So far, only South Sudan has declared famine in some parts of the country while Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia could be the next epicenter of hunger and malnutrition.

E. Africa on verge of a humanitarian crisis as hunger rages: charity

 

NAIROBI, June 19 (Xinhua) — Countries in East and Horn of Africa region are staring at a large-scale humanitarian crisis occasioned by acute food and water scarcity, international charity, Christian Aid said on Monday.

According to the charity, an estimated 20 million people are at risk of starvation in South Sudan, Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia unless provision of relief food is stepped up by national governments and bilateral donors.

“The recent disappointing rains in Ethiopia, and also in Kenya have shattered any faint hopes for water sources to fill up, pastures to regenerate and harvest to be viable,” said Christian Aid’s Head of Humanitarian Programs for Africa, Maurice Onyango.

The UN had earlier warned of a looming specter of mass starvation in the greater Horn of Africa region as acute drought and conflicts hobble efforts to feed the population.

So far, only South Sudan has declared famine in some parts of the country while Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia could be the next epicenter of hunger and malnutrition.

The UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) says that cumulatively, 13.4 million people in Kenya, Somalia and Ethiopia are food insecure.

Onyango noted that the magnitude of food insecurity in the region has not matched the capacity of humanitarian agencies to respond.

“Communities affected by drought are relying more on outside aid, stretching humanitarian agencies and local authorities to respond,” said Onyango, adding that Christian Aid has so far provided life saving assistance to nearly 50,000 people affected by drought in the region

Besides providing emergency assistance to drought victims in the East and Horn of Africa, Christian Aid and a consortium of partners are investing in resilience projects to help communities cope with climatic shocks.

Onyango said the Charity has built the capacity of farmers and herders in arid zones to manage water and pasture in a sustainable manner.

“If the world wants to avert future catastrophes of this scale, we need to invest in helping communities become more resilient to disasters,” said Onyango.

Nineteen African countries are facing acute levels of food insecurity. Ten of those countries are experiencing internal conflict. March 28, 2017

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Acute Food Insecurity and Conflict in Africa

By the Africa Center for Strategic Studies

February 17, 2017

Acute food insecurity and conflict in Africa by Africa Center for Strategic Studies

Nineteen African countries are facing acute levels of food insecurity. Ten of those countries are experiencing internal conflict.
Nineteen African countries are facing acute levels of food insecurity. Ten of those countries are experiencing internal conflict.
Click on image to download as PDF.

Historic droughts in East and Southern Africa have caused food prices to skyrocket to record levels, doubling the price of staple cereals in some areas. The areas of greatest food insecurity, however, are those affected by conflict. An arc of conflict-affected countries, largely overlapping regions of greatest food insecurity, spans the center of the continent from Somalia to Mali. In addition to disrupting production, conflict undercuts markets that would normally bring food to areas of greatest shortage. In some places, conflict prevents even conducting a full assessment of the level of food insecurity. And because countries in conflict lack the resilience or coping mechanisms of more stable areas, their food crises tend to last longer and have more lasting impact. In short:
Nineteen African countries are facing crisis, emergency, or catastrophic levels of food insecurity
Ten of those countries are experiencing civil conflict
Eight of those ten countries are autocracies
Those eight are also the source of 82 percent of the 18.5 million Africans that are internally displaced or refugees

 

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Ethiopia: UN warns of deepening food insecurity, allocates emergency funds to tackle severe drought; WHO warning over Ethiopia climate change risks November 17, 2015

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???????????Ethiopia in 2015, catatrphic famine, over 15 million people affectedFamine Ethiopia 2015 BBC report
Famine in Ethiopia 2015
(UN News Centre): With Ethiopia experiencing its worst drought in decades the United Nations is reporting deepening food insecurity and “severe emaciation and unusual livestock deaths” as the Organization’s humanitarian wing has allocated $17 million in emergency funding to help the Government tackle climate challenges and ensure timely food relief.
A recent report published by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) warned that severe drought, driven by the El Niño phenomenon, has not only caused livestock deaths especially in pastoral areas, but it has also deteriorated food security conditions in recent months, as food insecure people have almost doubled from August to October this year.
While cereal prices dropped last month thanks to the carryover stocks from previous year, the report also indicated the soaring prices of dairy and vegetables, as a result of food inflation.
Meanwhile, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) allocated $17 million last week from the UN Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF), aiming to reach those in the areas hard-hit by the drought with immediate food assistance and relief.
“A timely response to the emergency is critical,” said Stephen O’Brien, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, warning that “if we don’t act today, we face an even graver situation tomorrow, with more immense needs in 2016.”
This emergency funding will be provided to the UN World Food Programme (WFP), for supporting some 1.37 million Ethiopians with food, and providing specialized nutritional supplements to 164,000 malnourished women and children.
Some 8.2 million people currently need emergency food assistance – up almost 3 times compared to last year – and the number will likely double at the start of 2016, according to the Ethiopian Government.
The CERF pools donor contributions in a single fund so that money is available to start or continue urgent relief work anywhere in the world. Since its inception in 2006, 125 UN Member States and dozens of private-sector donors and regional Governments have contributed to the Fund. In 2015, CERF has allocated over $27 million to support humanitarian operations in Ethiopia.

 

 

Related:-

WHO warning over Ethiopia climate change risks

THE HEALTH BODY HAS SAID THAT CLIMATE CHANGE COULD WORSEN HEALTH PROBLEMS IN AFRICAN COUNTRY.

The World Health Organization (WHO) is warning that climate change is threatening to exacerbate health problems in Ethiopia.

The World Health Organization (WHO) is warning that climate change is threatening to exacerbate health problems in Ethiopia.
The WHO released details in its Climate and Health Country Profile 2015 on Tuesday (17 November  2015).
“Increased temperatures, intense heat waves, more extreme rainfall, floods and landslides, are expected to intensify existing challenges of communicable diseases, food insecurity and poverty unless timely action is taken,” according to a WHO statement.

 

Ethiopia’s country profile is one of the first 15 country reports the WHO is releasing.
“Ethiopia is vulnerable to many of the effects of climate change, including increases in average temperature and changes in precipitation. This threatens health, livelihoods and the progress that Ethiopia has made in recent years,” the WHO added.
The international body claims that by 2030, almost 250,000 people in Ethiopia will be at risk from annual river floods.

WHO Director-General Dr. Margaret Chan said: “Our planet is losing its capacity to sustain human life in good health”. She called for “strong, flexible and resilient health systems” as a defense against the impact of climate change.