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ATLANTA (July 3, 2008) - More than 14 million people in the Horn of Africa require urgent food aid and other humanitarian assistance over the coming months while, in Afghanistan, more than 6.5 million people are facing food insecurity. | A child waits to be weighed at a Medicine Sans Frontieres facility near Sheshemene, southern Ethiopia, June 8, 2008. (REUTERS/Radu Sigheti (ETHIOPIA) ) |
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In the Horn, a combination of drought conditions and rising food prices is driving the crisis. Afghanistan is also bearing the brunt of soaring food prices globally, but in addition the country has less food than usual due to a shortfall in domestic agricultural production and a decrease in imported wheat from Pakistan. Pakistan is Afghanistan’s main supplier of wheat, but Pakistan has placed limitations on food exports in an attempt to curb the impact of food price increases on its own population. Parts of Afghanistan are also under the threat of drought because of lack of rain and less snow this winter.
In all of these countries, it is the people who already have great difficulty accessing food who are the most affected — people in areas experiencing conflict, internally displaced persons, the rural landless and the urban poor. In Ethiopia, a joint assessment by the government and humanitarian partners shows that 4.6 million people are in need of emergency food assistance. This is an increase from 2.2 million in the period from January to March 2008. An additional 5.7 million drought-affected people will require extended support, according to the World Food Program (WFP). The Federal Ministry of Health estimates that there are 75,000 severely malnourished children in the drought-affected areas. Diseases such as acute watery diarrhea, meningitis and measles worsen the situation. At the same time, the inflation of food prices has reached 29.6 percent, according to Kenyan officials. | A Somali mother holds her malnourished child, who is on medication, in Banadir hospital in Mogadishu June 23, 2008. (REUTERS/Feisal Omar (SOMALIA) ) |
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In Somalia, the situation is already critical due to very poor rains in the southern and central parts of the country this year and the ongoing violence, which in turn limits the ability of aid agencies to reach those who require assistance. The number of people in need has increased by 40 percent since January 2008 to 2.6 million people, representing 35 percent of the population. This new figure includes 600,000 urban poor, an increasingly vulnerable group due to record high food prices. For example, the price of imported rice has increased up to 350 percent between January 2007 and May 2008 in several markets. The situation is likely to deteriorate in the coming months, leaving 3.5 million people facing a humanitarian emergency.
In Kenya, 1.2 million people currently need food assistance and an estimated 70 percent of the overall population is affected by rising food prices. Staple food prices have gone up between 30-50 percent over the past year putting many groups at risk of hunger. At the same time, inflation has reached 26.6 percent. The country has experienced a drop in food production largely due to the displacement following post-election insecurity in early 2008 in the highly food-productive Rift Valley province. The Kenya Red Cross Society estimates that more than 68,000 displaced people still live in camps. In Uganda, the northeastern Karamoja region is experiencing a prolonged dry spell and crop diseases in addition to conflict and under-development. A third consecutive year of widespread crop failure could afflict the region, which is fast approaching a worst-case food security scenario. WFP is distributing emergency rations to 707,000 people in Karamoja, representing 64 percent of the region's population.
In Afghanistan, CARE field staff report that people are selling off assets and livestock to buy food, something which will damage their future possibilities to quickly and fully recover and to generate income. Young men have reportedly left their homes to engage in the poppy harvest in the south and families have started migrating to neighboring countries. Stories of people attempting to sell their children in desperation have also reached the capital, Kabul. Rising food prices limit the impact that humanitarian agencies like CARE have when providing food assistance. The increased price means that CARE will be able to purchase less food for the budgeted money, thus reaching fewer people in need or scaling down on rations.
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