BBC: UN's FAO says OVER FIVE MILLION face starvation in the Horn of Africa

[Nothing Without Hope]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4587584.stm
Last Updated: Friday, 6 January 2006, 17:50 GMT

Starvation looms in African Horn

Subtitle: Millions of people could face starvation in the Horn of Africa, the United Nations food agency has warned.

The FAO {Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations} says Somalia has been worst hit by a drought in the region, where 2m need urgent food aid. The harvest there could be the lowest in a decade.

There are also food shortages in parts of Ethiopia, Kenya and Djibouti. Some 11 million need food aid, the FAO says.

(snip)

In Ethiopia, some one million people in the south-eastern Somali region could face severe food shortages, while another seven million need food aid, the FAO says.

On Thursday, international aid agencies stepped up their appeal for the estimated 2.5m people needing food aid in northern Kenya.

(snip)

Children, weakened by months of hunger, are starting to die of diarrhoea, malaria and other diseases, and the existing centres for feeding malnourished children are overflowing, aid workers say.

Figures at BBC site:

FACING STARVATION

Kenya: 2.5m people
Somalia: 2m
Ethiopia: 1m
Djibouti: 150,000

BBC map of the affected area of the Horn of Africa:



This crisis will become WORSE. Right now, the people are harvesting their crops and there is still not enough food. Food prices are continuing to rise. Bodies of livestock are lying around everywhere, and some of the people depend on them for their nourishment. Long-range weather forecasts predict that the next rains that are due to come in March and April will be lighter than previous averages. The article notes that UN agencies do not use the term "starvation" lightly, and that is what is happening now to MILLIONS of people; weakened by lack of food, many - espeically children and the weak - are also prey to other diseases.

Parts of the BBC article are derived from this PRESS RELEASE at the FAO site (http://www.fao.org):

http://www.fao.org/newsroom/en/news/2006/1000206/index.html

Millions of people are on the brink of starvation in the Horn of Africa

Food and agricultural assistance urgently needed
6 January 2006, Rome - Millions of people are on the brink of starvation in the Horn of Africa due to recent severe droughts coupled with the effects of past and ongoing conflicts, FAO said in a special alert today. In Somalia, Kenya, Djibouti and Ethiopia more than 11 million people are estimated to be in need of assistance.

Food shortages are particularly grave in Somalia where about 2 million people need humanitarian assistance. The food situation is also very serious in pastoral areas of northern and eastern Kenya, south-eastern Ethiopia and Djibouti.

In Somalia, most of the affected people are in the south where pastoral communities are facing acute food and livelihood crises due to severe drought. The secondary rainy season or Deyr (October to December) failed in most of the eight agricultural regions in the south resulting in widespread crop failure. It is estimated that the forthcoming Deyr crop, about to be harvested, could be the lowest in a decade.

According to the World Food Programme (WFP), about 64 000 tonnes of food aid are needed until June 2006 to feed the drought-affected population; so far, only 16 700 tonnes are available. Immediate response to the WFP appeal is required to avert possible hunger-related deaths in southern Somalia, FAO said.

In Kenya, crop failure and depletion of livestock herds due to prolonged drought have led to famine conditions with some deaths reported in the arid areas. The government has called for about $150 million to provide food for about 2.5 million people, almost 10 percent of the population, over the next six months. Additional assistance is also required for the provision of water for both people and animals, restocking of livestock and provision of seeds to farmers in preparation for the next crop season.

In Djibouti, severe drought conditions have worsened the food security conditions of large numbers of pastoralists. Nearly 150 000 people, almost one-fifth of the population, are estimated to be facing food shortages.

In Ethiopia, despite favourable harvest prospects for the main season crop, currently being harvested, severe food shortages are being reported in the pastoral areas of eastern and southern Ethiopia. Initial estimates indicate more than one million people in the Somali Region to be facing severe food shortages. Over $40 million are urgently required to stave off starvation. The onset of the dry season (January to March) is expected to worsen the situation. Overall, more than 8 million people in Ethiopia rely on food assistance in both relief and safety net programmes.

In view of the good domestic grain production in Ethiopia, local purchases for food aid by both the government and donors are highly recommended to support domestic markets, FAO said.

Contact:
Erwin Northoff
News Coordinator
[e-mail]
([phone]

I don't know what are the best choices for giving aid to these starving people. I would imagine OxFam and the other relief agencies are participating, but I am hoping someone with more direct knowledge will enlighten us about the most effective choices we can make to help.

[Nothing Without Hope]

1. kick - I hope this is worth at least one read n/t

[Bozita]

2. Bush bet on oil as a means of showing his humanitarian side

Eleven dead US soldiers in Iraq on Thursday?

So goddamned sad!

Not a lot of oil on that map, is there?

[Nothing Without Hope]

3. These aren't Bush's kind of people - they work hard and have dark skin

and not much money. None of them own oil wells.

The desertification of subsaharan Africa is being pushed by global warming. It's a spiral, because as the marginally productive lands dry out, they are further damaged by overgrazing by more animals than can now be supported and the last trees and shrubs are gathered for firewood. This is not a sudden development. Bush has been deliberately looking the other way for a long time.

[Time for change]

9. Global warming?

Don't you know that Bush has said that there is no proof of that? :sarcasm:

Recommended!

[Nothing Without Hope]

4. Re those dead soldiers, did you see this post about armor being

available but held back? 80% of the killed in action could have been prevented:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x72586
thread title (1-7-06 GD): Pentagon Had but Withheld Armor that Could Have Saved 80% of KIA in Iraq

At some point, I have to ask: are they TRYING to destroy the loyal US military? Is this part of their plan somehow?

[MisterP]

5. Pretzel Inhaler is friends with Sudan, Ethiopia, and Eritrea--

all despotic regimes involved in the next Nightmare on the Horn

[proud patriot]

6. It's so overwhelming

I'm at a loss, what can I do ? :-(

[Nothing Without Hope]

7. That's the question. I'm sure there are things we can do, but I don't

know what the best choices are. One reason I posted this thread is to get people who are knowledgeable about the area and about aid agencies/organizations to educate the rest of us. The need is urgent.

That's the question: WHAT CAN WE DO TO HELP THESE PEOPLE? We may not be able to turn back the desertification of their region, but I am certain we can make a difference.

There are many questions for which answers are surely available. As one example: which of these areas might benefit from the kind of sleeve-pump technology introduced by Gaviotas? There are many low-tech, cheap, human- wind- or solar-powered inventions that could bring up clean water cheaply if it is there. (If you have not yet read the book "Gaviotas: A Village To Re-iinvent the World," I urge you to do so - it will refresh your soul and give you hope for humanity's future. Link on a place where I discussed it at DU:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=104&topic_id=4736946&mesg_id=4746383)

Another question for which there is an answer which I do not know: what drought-resistant agricultural alternatives do these people have? Are there strains of familiar staple grains that are more drought-resistant, or are there alternatives that they could adopt which are? So many questions, and there are answers out there.

For now, we need to know where to send aid - which organizations are addressing the needs most effectively? Surely there are many people here who know answers to that question. We need to find the answers.

[Nothing Without Hope]

8. One more kick for the night n/t

[Nothing Without Hope]

10. kick n/t

[Nothing Without Hope]

11. Kick n/t

[Nothing Without Hope]

12. kick n/t