Catherine Riungu
21 April 2008
Nairobi — The Horn of Africa is staring hunger in the face if rains do not fail this month.
Care International sent out an SOS last week warning that an estimated 14 million people in the Horn are in dire need of emergency food aid, just two years after the worst drought in decades, and from which the region is only beginning to recover.
"Without significant rain this month, millions of people, already left devastated and vulnerable by the 2006 emergency, risk further loss of their livelihoods and possible starvation as water and pasture rapidly diminish," said the Care statement.
Parts of Somalia are already facing acute shortages of food and water. In Kenya and Ethiopia, despite recent rains, Care has reported high levels of vulnerability with livestock dying due to lack of water and grazing, dramatic rises in the prices of food and water and children dropping out of school to help find food.
"A lot depends on the next four weeks," said Steve Wallace, Care's regional director for East and Central Africa. "Already, in some areas, pasture has disappeared and lack of water has forced schools and health clinics to close. Without rain in the next month, households that are still struggling to get back on their feet will be facing a severe food and water emergency again," he added.
Increases in global food prices that have put food beyond the reach of the poor, the rapid succession of droughts as predicted by climate change experts and the recent escalation of conflict in Somalia and Kenya have all contributed to the poverty and vulnerability that underpin the current precarious situation, Care said.
The agency also points an accusing finger at the aid system, charging that it has also contributed by failing to tackle the underlying causes of food emergencies. "This has left people in a downward spiral, becoming increasingly susceptible as they fall in and out of emergency," Care said.
Although Care has over the past two years called for urgent, radical changes to the aid system to ensure money is spent more intelligently to end the cycle of emergency, "the result is that people today are more vulnerable than ever," said Vanessa Rubin, Care International UK's Africa hunger advisor.
"We have a window of opportunity to prevent millions of people from losing their major source of food and income, if not their lives, to another drought. Donors must act early and make money available immediately to protect people's livelihoods where it is still possible and prevent an emergency from taking root," she added.
Care says that, too often, the aid community gives money late, providing funding for the wrong things and for periods too short to truly fight emergencies. "This time around, the aid community must consider the long-term nature of the crisis at the heart of its response," said the agency.
In Somalia, Care is currently providing food to 660,000 people and plans to feed 200,000 more from June. The organisation needs $25 million to ensure that it can continue to get food to all of these people.
In Kenya, it has been trucking water into the most affected areas and is working with community leaders to prevent conflict over diminishing water resources.
In Ethiopia, Care has been providing feed for livestock to protect the livelihoods of poor pastoralists, providing water storage to communities, and providing extra food to vulnerable children in response to increased levels of malnutrition.
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