UN warns of increased hunger in the Horn of Africa | News

The United Nations World Food Program (WFP) warned on Tuesday that some 13 million people are in a situation of hunger in Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia, after the intense drought in the Horn of Africa, described as the worst since 1981. .

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“This situation requires immediate humanitarian intervention and continued support for communities to build their resilience for the future,” Michael Dunford, WFP East Africa Country Director, said in a statement from Nairobi.

According to Dunford, crops are failing, livestock are dying and hunger is increasing as droughts are recurrent in the Horn of Africa.

In the most recent rainy seasons, it has rained less than usual in three of them in a row, so the peasants have lost crops and dead animals, and their families have been displaced, thus increasing conflicts with other communities.

According to WFP estimates, this scenario may get worse in the remainder of the year, as everything indicates that the rains will continue to record fewer millimeters than the normal average.

Data from this agency of the United Nations (UN) indicate that malnutrition rates are high and will increase if urgent action is not implemented in southern and southeastern Ethiopia, southeastern and northern Kenya, and central and southern Kenya. Somalia.

"The impacts are aggravated by increases in the prices of basic foods, inflation and low demand for agricultural labor, which further worsens the ability of families to buy food," reads the Program's statement.

The WFP even warns that a humanitarian crisis like the one in 2011 could occur, when 250,000 Somalis died of hunger, for which it urged immediate assistance to avoid the tragedy.

Somalia could raise the number of severely food insecure people from 3.5 to 4.6 million between February and May if the relevant authorities do not take immediate action, while in Ethiopia 5.7 million people are expected to need assistance in the coming months.

Kenya would have 2.8 million in need of assistance and the Kenyan government already classified the drought as a national emergency in September 2021, while Somalia declared a state of humanitarian emergency for the same reason a month later.