TWN Info Service on Sustainable Agriculture
28 April 2022
Third World Network

UN: Nearly $1.4 billion pledged for Horn of Africa drought response
Published in SUNS #9564 dated 28 April 2022

Geneva, 27 Apr (Kanaga Raja) -  Donors on 26 April pledged US$1.39 billion for the Horn of Africa region which is experiencing one of its most severe droughts in recent history, with more than 15 million people acutely food insecure in Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

The pledges were made at a high-level round table in Geneva, co-hosted by O CHA and the EU's Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (ECHO), with the participation of senior representatives from the Governments of Somalia, Kenya and Ethiopia.

Humanitarian agencies had called for $1.4 billion for the humanitarian response and protection for drought-affected people across the Horn of Africa.

According to OCHA, with the funds pledged on 26 April, humanitarian agencies will provide urgent food, nutrition, cash and health assistance, as well as fodder and medicines to keep livestock alive.

In his remarks at the high-level roundtable, UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Martin Griffiths, said that: "For the first time in 40 years, people are facing the almost certain possibility of a fourth consecutive poor rainy season."

"If this season's rains do indeed fail, as projected, the Horn of Africa ma y experience one of the worst climate- induced emergencies in its history. A once-in-a-generation tragedy," Mr Griffiths added.

"Families across the region are fleeing their homes in search of food, water, pasture or jobs. More than 1 million people have left their homes - never a n easy choice - since early last year."

Millions of children are already acutely malnourished, with close to 2 mill ion children across the region at risk of starving to death, said Mr Griffiths.

"But as we all know, the dangers of a hunger crisis go far beyond starvation. Most people in a hunger crisis die of preventable diseases, such as respiratory infections or measles, because their bodies are too weak to fight these threats," he added.

"Children are pulled out of school in droves. Women and girls are at higher risk of gender-based violence and sexual exploitation and abuse, and more pregnant women die in childbirth due to a lack of access to clean water."

Millions of people's livelihoods are wiped out as crops cannot be planted, or they dry up and as livestock die, said the UN humanitarian chief.

"As drought and other climate shocks in the Horn of Africa become more frequent and more severe, these people - the victims each time - have less time to recover," said Mr Griffiths.

"Here, again, the reality is self-evident that the people who have done the least to cause the global climate crisis are being hit the hardest," he added.

In 2010-11, drought, conflict and limited humanitarian access in Somalia brought famine that killed more than a quarter of a million people, he said.

"In 2017, when drought brought millions of people to the brink of famine, w e drew on lessons learned, mounted a rapid and large-scale humanitarian response and averted the worst."

"But the harsh truth we must acknowledge today is that we are in a race against time again to avert large-scale loss of life in 2022, and we don't have the resources to do so," said Mr Griffiths.

This year, humanitarian agencies have already assisted more than 6 million people. And we now have more than 15 million to help, he added.

The EU's Commissioner for Crisis Management, Janez Lenarcic, said that: "The humanitarian consequences of the historical drought affecting the Horn of Africa are dramatic. Between 15 and 16 million people are already affected by the drought and in need of life-saving assistance."

In addition, Lenarcic said "the dependency on Ukrainian and Russian imports is already impacting food availability and affordability in the region. The time to act is now."

According to OCHA, communities in the Horn of Africa are experiencing one o f the most severe droughts in their memory as they brace for the prospect of a fourth consecutive poor season, which could lead to an unprecedented climate emergency in the region.

Latest forecasts indicate that the March to May 2022 rainy season is likely to be average to below-average.

"This comes after the October-December 2020, March-May 2021 and October-December 2021 seasons were all marred by below-average rainfall, leaving large swathes of Somalia, southern and south-eastern Ethiopia, and northern and eastern Kenya facing exceptional drought."

OCHA said if the March-May rains fail, this would be the first time in the last 40 years that the region has endured four consecutive below-normal seasons.

According to OCHA, between 15 and 16 million people are waking each day to high levels of acute food insecurity and rising malnutrition across Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia, and some areas in Somalia are now at risk of famine.

Nearly 6 million people in Somalia are acutely food insecure - including 81 ,000 people in Catastrophe (IPC Phase 5) - which is higher than during the 2011 famine and the 2016/2017 severe drought.

Between 5.5 million and 6.5 million people in Ethiopia and some 3.5 million people in Kenya are severely food insecure due to the drought.

"Millions of livestock - which pastoralist families rely upon for sustenance and livelihoods - are emaciated or dead, including more than 1.5 million animal s that have died in Kenya, and over 1.5 million livestock that have died in the
Somali, Oromia and the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples' regions of Ethiopia."

Across the three countries, about 5.7 million children are currently acutely malnourished, including more than 1.7 million who are severely acutely malnourished, and these figures are expected to rise to 6.9 million and 2 million respectively if rains fail in the coming weeks, according to UNICEF.

According to OCHA, the region is also now grappling with the impacts of the conflict in Ukraine, which is driving up the price of basic foods and other necessities, such as fuel and fertilizers.

Food prices are rising in many drought-affected areas, due to a combination of macro-economic challenges, below- average harvests and rising prices on international markets, including as a result of the war in Ukraine, it said .

According to OCHA, the cost of a food basket has already risen by 66 per cent in Ethiopia and by 36 per cent in Somalia, leaving families unable to afford even basic items and forcing them to sell their hard-earned properties and assets in exchange for food and other life-saving items.

According to OCHA, across the Horn of Africa, millions of people are also f acing dire water shortages.

It said many water points have dried up or diminished in quality, heightening the risk of water-borne diseases and increasing the risk of skin and eye infect ions as families are forced to ration their water use and prioritize drinking and cooking over hygiene.

In some of the worst affected areas in Somalia, water prices have spiked by up to 72 per cent since last November.

It said women and girls are having to walk longer distances to access water , exacerbating their potential exposure to gender-based violence.

"Since January 2021, over 759,000 people in Somalia have been displaced in search of water, food and pasture, while over half a million were forcibly displaced by the conflict. In southern Ethiopia, some 286,000 people have been forced from their homes due to the worsening drought."

According to OCHA, in Somalia, the drought emergency has disrupted education for 1.4 million children, of whom 420,000 - 45 per cent of them girls - are at risk of dropping out of school.

In Ethiopia, more than 514,000 children across affected areas lost four to five months of their academic year due to drought, it said.