MOGADISHU, Somalia — Hunger and loss
make up a kaleidoscope in Somalia, but one scene stands out in my visit: A mom,
Fardosa Ahmed, confides shyly that she had eight children but lost four of
them, and now she fears she may lose a fifth, her daughter Catiko, who is sick,
weak, and motionless.
اضافة اعلان
The tremble in Fardosa’s voice offers a
reminder of the prospective human cost of the famine that is looming this
spring. United Nations officials are warning as loudly as they can about this
impending catastrophe, which reflects the conjunction of two global forces
driven by the West — and it will be up to us to choose which prevails.
The first is climate change, which is
widely believed to be a factor in the drought here that is withering crops and
killing livestock. Climate change is complicated, but my guess is that Fardosa
would not be on the verge of losing a fifth child if we had not secured our
standard of living by pumping carbon into the atmosphere for more than a
century.
The second global force is a more promising
one: the revolution in child mortality that has already saved tens of millions
of lives and that enables us to help Somali children this year if that is a
priority.
According to one analysis of data, as recently as the 1920s, the child mortality rate in the US was higher than it is in Somalia today
One gauge of our progress in saving
children’s lives: According to one analysis of data, as recently as the 1920s,
the child mortality rate in the US was higher than it is in Somalia today — and
since then, it has plunged in America by more than 95 percent. In 1960, child
mortality was higher in Mexico, Brazil, China, and Turkey than it is in Somalia
today.
Inexpensive miraclesWe know how to save children’s lives. At
UNICEF in the 1980s and 1990s, an American executive director named James Grant
— for my money, the most important UN official in history — oversaw an effort
that slashed death rates in the developing world and saved perhaps 25 million
lives. If we built statues of heroes based on their impact on the world, busts
of Grant would adorn every town square.
All this underscores that we live in an age
of miracles, when it is possible to multiply loaves and fishes, feed the
hungry, and overcome death itself. And we can do this remarkably cheaply.
Take Ubax Muhamad, a five-year-old girl I
met who weighs just 9kg. Preventing this kind of severe, acute malnutrition in
Somalia can cost as little as 15 cents a day, UNICEF says. The modern version
of manna from heaven is a high-energy variant of peanut butter called
Plumpy’Nut, costing $57 for a carton and lasting a severely malnourished child
about two months.
Raising awarenessAnother effective way of fighting
malnutrition is lower-tech: promotion of exclusive breastfeeding. Only about
one-third of Somali moms breastfeed exclusively for six months, and one highly
regarded nonprofit that focuses on breastfeeding, Alive & Thrive, estimates
that the lives of almost 10,000 Somali children a year could be saved with
optimal breastfeeding.
One factor is suspicion of colostrum, the
highly nutritious first milk that can be yellow and thick.
“The first milk is very bad; never give it
to a baby,” said one grandma, Hawa Ibrahim, who has lost seven grandchildren.
“Give honey instead, and then after two days, you can give mother’s milk.” That
is terrible advice.
Other moms repeated the mistaken advice
that on hot days, a baby needs to drink water as well as breast milk, or that
other foods should be given to the baby beginning at three or four months.
Breastfeeding promotion has been underway
in Somalia and is having an impact, as exclusive breastfeeding rates have risen
sixfold since 2009 when they were only about 5 percent.
A decreasing fertility rateI know I will hear from some well-meaning
readers who will say something like, “What you describe is heartbreaking, but
if we help Somalis, won’t they just keep having kids who will then starve?”
The answer is no.
For government officials, a message: One lesson of history is that we can overcome famines — but it is crucial to act early.
It is true that Somalia has one of the
highest fertility rates in the world: 6.3 births per woman. But the number is
already dropping, and there are three approaches that have worked globally to
lower fertility: educate girls, improve contraceptive access, and lower child
mortality so families can be confident that their children will survive.
One of the dads I met, Saalax Abdiqadir,
22, has a two-year-old girl who is severely malnourished and near death. When
times are difficult, I asked him, does he think he and his wife should have
fewer children, because they cannot afford to feed them, or have more children,
in case some die?
“I want to have more babies, in case I lose
one,” he replied.
So let us have some empathy. And for
government officials, a message: One lesson of history is that we can overcome
famines — but it is crucial to act early.
The next few months will be critical. I
fear we are going to miss that window.
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