The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) says it needs U.S.$327 million to respond to the immediate needs of 4.5 million people affected by drought in the Horn of Africa.
WFP, it is understood, plans to help communities in the Horn of Africa over the next six months become more resilient to extreme climate shocks.
‘Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts’, number 13 of the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) reads.
The UN programme said that the Horn of Africa is experiencing the driest conditions recorded since 1981. The drought is leaving an estimated 13 million people across Ethiopia, Kenya, and Somalia facing severe hunger.
These conditions come in the wake of three consecutive failed rainy seasons which have decimated crops and caused shortages of water and pasture in the region.
‘The drought has impacted pastoral and farmer populations across southern and south-eastern Ethiopia, south-eastern and northern Kenya and south-central Somalia’, WFP said in a statement.
‘The impacts are compounded by increases in staple food prices, inflation, and low demand for agricultural labour, further worsening families’ ability to buy food. Malnutrition rates also remain high across the region and could worsen if no immediate action is taken’.
The Horn of Africa has become increasingly vulnerable to global warming and climate change effects, researchers have reported.
The socio-economic and environmental implications of climate change is expected to affect water resources, agricultural and livestock, coastal zones, health, and tourism sectors in the region.
In Kenya, an estimated 2.8 million people are in need of assistance; while in Ethiopia, the number jumps to an estimated 5.7 million people affected by severe drought and need food assistance.
In Somalia, the number of acutely food insecure people (IPC 3+) is expected to increase from 3.5 to 4.6 million between February and May 2022 if humanitarian assistance is not received.
‘Harvests are ruined, livestock are dying, and hunger is growing as recurrent droughts affect the Horn of Africa. The situation requires immediate humanitarian action and consistent support to build the resilience of communities for the future’, WFP Regional Director for Eastern Africa, Michael Dunford, said.
WFP said it was providing life-saving food and nutrition assistance to affected communities, including cash grants and insurance schemes, but need to scale it to reach more vulnerable households and avert a humanitarian crisis.
‘WFP aims to support 2.9 million people with food relief in the Somali region, 585,000 malnourished children and mothers with nutrition treatment, and 80,000 households with mothers or young children with preventative treatment against malnutrition’, it said.
‘This emergency response will be complemented by expanding microinsurance support for up to 18,000 at-risk pastoralists. WFP is also seeking to add 50,000 children to its school meals programme, which currently reaches 87,000 children across 254 schools in other drought-affected regions of Oromia and SNNP’.
The UN entity also plans to provide urgent food assistance to more than 890,000 people, scale malnutrition treatment and prevention programmes for women and children, and extend microinsurance support for smallholder farmers in Kenya.
Source: WFP
Photo source: WFP/Michael Tewelde
