In his inauguration
speech in early June, the new president of Somalia, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud,
called attention to the grave threat of famine posed by the severe drought
affecting the Horn of Africa. His plea for action echoed those of humanitarian
organizations, which have been warning that the worst drought in 40 years
presents a major crisis for the region, with millions already facing extreme
hunger.
اضافة اعلان
Rains have now
failed across four rainy seasons in the region, devastating harvests,
decimating livestock, and forcing millions to leave their homes in desperate
search for food. While the main worry is how to cope with the crisis and
provide support right now, the fear is that the situation will only worsen,
especially if the rains continue to fail.
Although the wider
Horn of Africa region is affected, the problem is particularly severe in
Somalia, Ethiopia, and Kenya. In Somalia, some 7.1 million people are facing
high levels of acute food insecurity, as are 7.2 million people in Ethiopia,
and 4.1 million in Kenya. Around 7.1 million children in the three countries
face significant hunger, and two million of them are already severely
malnourished.
Hunger and famine
are only two effects of extreme drought. The lack of water contributes to an
increased risk of water-borne diseases with more intensive use of remaining
sources. Moreover, the need to travel longer distances to access water puts
women and girls at particular risk of gender-based violence. Girls become more
likely to miss school, and UNICEF has warned that child marriage has already
begun to increase in the region as a desperate response of families in need.
The last major
drought in the region, in 2011, killed around 260,000 people, over half of them
children. There are fears that the current drought will exact an even higher
toll across the Horn of Africa, and especially in Somalia.
Although the
catalyst for this crisis is weather, it has been exacerbated by the disruption
caused by the pandemic, and by the impact of Russia’s war in Ukraine on global
food supplies and trade. Almost nine-tenths of Somali wheat imports come from
Russia and Ukraine; the blockage of exports that has resulted from the conflict
has led to severe shortages and high spikes in food prices across the region.
Indeed, the price of basic foodstuffs has increased by two-thirds in Ethiopia
and one-third in Somalia.
The events in the
Horn of Africa are a useful reminder that hunger and famine are rarely the
products of drought itself — even one as prolonged as this one — but are fueled
by the politics of money. The Horn of Africa’s suffering is tied to a wicked
combination of war-induced food trade disruption, inflation, falling food
production, and a donor community unable or unwilling to respond.
Underpinning these
immediate causes is the impact of climate change. In late June, Jan Egeland,
who leads the Norwegian Refugee Council, described the crisis as “Somalia’s
climate emergency”, drawing attention to the very real, very substantial impact
of the world’s changing climate on increased severity and frequency of such
disasters.
In Somalia, some 7.1 million people are facing high levels of acute food insecurity, as are 7.2 million people in Ethiopia, and 4.1 million in Kenya. Around 7.1 million children in the three countries face significant hunger, and two million of them are already severely malnourished.
While
unprecedented in scale, the reality is that prolonged droughts and the threat
of famine are likely to occur more frequently in regions that have long been
subject to food availability crises — as the Horn of Africa has. This is not
only a crisis requiring resolution, but a foreshadowing of how the climate
emergency will push millions into extreme hunger, especially in regions that
are already among the world’s most vulnerable.
Yet despite the
scale of the problem, the global community’s response has been paltry. Donors
have funded just 28 percent of the $1.8 billion requested by the UN to meet the
region’s immediate needs. Distracted by a war in its backyard, the EU has
pledged only about $108 million in response to the Horn of Africa’s famine. The
US has committed a similar amount, while the UK has promised around $48
million.
As for Gulf
states, which share historical, cultural, and economic linkages, aiding the Horn
of Africa remains a missed opportunity thus far. The United Arab Emirates and
Saudi Arabia have both joined the ranks of the top-20 donors for humanitarian
assistance, but much of their spending has been focused on Yemen, and both have
substantially cut their humanitarian support in recent years.
More surprising is
Turkey’s limited response of just $200,000 for Somalia. While Ankara has clear
diplomatic and economic interests in the region (and especially in Somalia),
and a solid record in humanitarian spending, it could be doing far more to
help.
In addition to
growing international commitments, there is also a need for systemic change.
Donors must move away from reactive funding models (kicking in when a crisis
has reached a critical point) to proactive ones, which would help ensure that
humanitarian organizations have the resources to respond as soon as crises
emerge. Relying on donor goodwill, at a time of global crisis, is a poor way to
respond to a challenge of this scale.
For Mohamud, the
drought is one more challenge as he retakes office. This is his second term,
and some of the challenges that undermined his 2012-17 presidency remain in
play: high levels of corruption, tensions within the ruling elite, and ongoing
violence from the Al Shabab insurgency.
But the deafness
of the global community in responding to the severe and worsening crisis will
only make it harder to govern, leaving millions to face extreme hunger as a
climate-fueled famine continues to devastate the Horn of Africa region.
Michael Jennings is reader in international development at SOAS
University of London, where he works on issues related to global health and the
politics and history of global development. Syndication Bureau.
Read more Opinion and Analysis
Jordan News
.jpg)
.jpg)
