Red Cross Blogs

Drought in east Africa: six questions and answers

By Sarah Oughton
July 20, 2011 at 5:17 pm

1. What is famine?

The UN declared on 20 July that parts of south central Somalia are suffering from famine. When the UN makes this declaration, it means there are very extreme problems that are defined as:

• At least 20 per cent of the population has extremely limited access to food (in south central Somalia, cereal prices are two to three times
  2010 levels; 30 per cent of people there are unable to meet their basic food needs).
• More than 30 per cent of children under five are acutely malnourished, which is double the standard emergency threshold of 15 per cent (in nine out of 11 areas of south central Somalia, it’s 38 per cent. In three areas, the figure is 50 per cent).
• The death rate exceeds two in 10,000 of the whole population per day and four in 10,000 per day for children under five. Both of these thresholds are double the level at which a humanitarian emergency is declared. The death rate for children under five in south central Somalia is above four in 10,000 for all areas, and in some areas 13-20 in 10,000.

2. How is drought affecting people in east Africa?

Over ten million people in drought stricken areas of Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia and Uganda are experiencing the most severe food crisis in the world today as a result of drought, coupled with rising food prices and conflict.

Right now, they are facing uncertainty about their futures and, most critically, the futures of their children. The longer the situation continues without assistance the less able they are to cope, forcing them to:

• postpone basic healthcare
• remove their children from school
• eat seeds needed to grow food in the future
• eat less and poorer quality food making them vulnerable to malnutrition
• leave their homes and communities and travel long distances looking for food, water, employment and help.

Lack of rain means pasture is parched and water sources for livestock have dried up, and so the animals are dying. Since livestock are a vital source of income, the death of each animal drains some of the economic lifeblood of the community.

For pastoralists – people who live off their livestock and move seasonally in search of fresh pasture and water – the loss and ill health of breeding stock reduces their ability to recover herds and hence regain their livelihoods.

In order to survive, people are travelling further and looking harder for water. The time and energy it takes to find water for drinking, cooking and basic hygiene can double or triple, even as a family’s health and fitness declines.

These hardships are even worse for the poorest members of a community, often female-headed households, the disabled and minority populations. The elderly and the young are most at risk for serious illness and death.

Child malnutrition rates in the worst affected areas are more than double the emergency threshold of 15 per cent, and are expected to rise. Almost half the children arriving from southern Somalia in refugee camps in Ethiopia are malnourished, and those arriving in Kenya are little better. High mortality rates among children are reported. Eleven districts in Kenya also report malnutrition rates above the emergency threshold.

3. Why do these crises keep happening?

Droughts are natural and recurring in east Africa but in recent years the resilience of vulnerable people to them has decreased, making them less able to cope with even normal dry seasons.

The crisis we are seeing in parts of east Africa today is part of a long-term chronic situation in which many communities regularly slip in and out of food crisis.

The causes of people’s vulnerability are many and complex, including poverty, recurrent drought, food and fuel price rises, increased pressure on limited natural resources from rising population numbers and conflict.

This year, very poor rainfall has led to failures of harvests and widespread death of livestock, pushing more people into crisis.

Food prices, that have remained high since 2007, have risen even more and are expected to rise further, particularly in Somalia.

We are also seeing increased movement of people within and out of Somalia and into Ethiopia and Kenya, which is related both to conflict and food needs.

It is extremely worrying to see people moving away from their home areas in order to access food as this means they lose their livelihoods, making them even more vulnerable.  Tens of thousands of people have had to travel long distances with little food or water and many have died on the journey across the border.

4. How long will this crisis last?

The current crisis will continue well into 2012; the worst may still be ahead of us.

The economic impact of the last year will reverberate around communities that will have to contend with inflated prices for their staple foods, deflated prices in the livestock market and greater efforts to access water and other resources that have been devastated by the drought.

5. What is the solution to recurrent food crises in east Africa?

The Red Cross is continually evolving its response to food crises, based on the learning from previous responses. It has developed a longer term approach to address drought and chronic food issues in the region that provides durable and sustainable change to build resilience to drought, high food prices and other risks communities face.

The situation in east Africa is complex and there are no easy solutions. Effective responses require policy change and many types of action from many different stakeholders at the international, national and local level.

Since people’s vulnerability to recurring droughts has increased in recent years, large-scale relief operations delivered at the peak of the crisis are often less relevant than addressing the long-term challenge of helping communities become more resilient to the cycle of drought.

In addition to responding to emergency food needs, the humanitarian community therefore requires sufficient resources (such as increased funds) to protect, recover and strengthen people’s means of making a living. This will ensure they are better able to cope and recover from drought and other issues that threaten their livelihoods.

The Red Cross is learning from past experiences and developing innovative ways to protect livelihoods, including increasing the use of cash and vouchers, and making more effective use of early warning systems.

6. What are the best ways to help?

The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement collaborates with government, non-government and UN institutions to provide:

• assistance for mothers and children to access health services
• incentives for children to remain in school including health services and food assistance
• clean water, through temporary provision of water and rehabilitating existing water sources
• encouragement and support for pastoralists to transition to more viable lifestyles that are sustainable for both environmental and economic reasons, such as irrigated agriculture.

To support our work please donate to our East Africa Food Crisis Appeal.

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Tags: drought, East Africa, famine, Horn of Africa

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 20th, 2011 at 5:17 pm and is filed under Emergencies. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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