After the current drought, over 29 million people in Horn of Africa will face acute food insecurity.
According to the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), recent data has indicated that about 15.5 to 16 million are currently in need of food assistance due to the drought.
Monday’s briefing by Dr Workneh Gebeyehu (IGAD Executive Secretary) on the drought situation in Nairobi was a briefing to the media. He stated that Ethiopia, with 6.5 million people is the worst-hit country, while Somalia and Kenya, have 6 million and 3.5 millions, respectively.
“The drought has caused severe shortage in water and pasture leading to reduced food production, significant losses in livestock, wildlife and resource based violence in these regions,” he said.
Gebeyehu warned, however, that if the situation does not get addressed quickly, it will adversely impact an additional 8,000,000 people.
“We are appealing to all stakeholders including the governments, humanitarian actors and international donors to help so that we can save lives,” he urged.
According to the Executive Secretary, all stakeholders must respond quickly to avoid a disaster.
In her remarks, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Manager at the Nairobi Resilience Hub Alessandra Casazza, said UNDP supports IGAD’s call for urgent response to assist the affected countries in the Horn Africa.
“The issue of drought has been a recurrent crisis and it comes with great intensity therefore we need to start investing in long-term resilience and developments to put a stop to it once and for all,” she said.
Casazza added, “According to a report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Investment in climate change works and therefore we have a way forward and a solution to put an end to the crisis.”
Gulied Artan (IGAD Climate Prediction and Application Centre Director) stated that while no deaths have been recorded, there is a high probability of thousands of people living in drought-prone areas succumbing.
“We can leverage technology in our pursuit for long-term resilience and sustainability,” he said.
Artan also pointed out that governments are key players and should do more to help those in vulnerable areas.
By Teresa Rurigi, Mike Mulinge
Source: kenyanews
