The worst drought in 40 years: millions of Africans go hungry

Withered crops, burnt pastures, cattle dying of thirst, and mothers and children looking for water and food. According to the United Nations (UN), the Horn of Africa region is currently experiencing the greatest drought since 1981, with fatal consequences for the population.

In some areas of Somalia, Ethiopia and Kenya, more than 13 million people are at risk of acute hunger, according to a report by the UN World Food Programme (WFP).

Humanitarian aid agencies fear that the war in Ukraine and the humanitarian crisis related to this conflict will lead to the neglect of other crisis scenarios.

It is estimated that at least $140 million is needed to avert a humanitarian catastrophe in the Horn of Africa. Some $57 million has been committed so far.

The situation in the Horn of Africa is reminiscent of Somalia in 2011, when more than 250,000 people died as a result of an enormous famine. Experts fear that a similar humanitarian catastrophe will now occur if the funding needs of humanitarian aid organizations cannot be met.

Somalia is, once again, the most affected country. The UN reported that in the easternmost country of Africa, some 4.5 million people are directly affected by the drought and some 700,000 flee because of it.

Last week, nearly 900 families arrived at Al-Hidayah camp, on the outskirts of the capital Mogadishu. In the shelter, people live under plastic tarps held up by sticks and once a day they receive something to eat, usually corn and bread.

Among the newcomers to the camp is Safiya Abdullahi, who left her village with her six children in the hope of getting water and food in Mogadishu.

During the journey to the capital, the family had to spend several nights in the open air and cross areas where security forces and militias are engaged in bloody fighting.

Safiya Abdullahi and her children seem emaciated and debilitated, two of the children suffer from anemia and have measles. According to Abdullahi, they lived a relatively normal life in their village, where they lived with their cows and goats. The animals, however, died as a result of the drought.

Since December, there has been a shortage of water in Somalia, which has caused its price to double in some parts of the country.

The leaders of the Al-Hidayah camp hope that in the coming time many more people in the country will seek refuge here.

Community leader Nadifo Hussein points out that especially children and the elderly are severely weakened

According to the United Nations report, 1.4 million children under 5 years of age in Somalia are at risk of acute malnutrition this year. These children lack nutrients such as vitamins, proteins and vital trace elements, which makes them more susceptible to diseases such as diarrhea and pneumonia.

In neighboring Ethiopia, people are also struggling to survive in several regions of the southeastern part of the country.

According to Saladin Ali, a veterinarian at Jigjiga University in eastern Ethiopia, thousands of animals are dying as a result of the drought. He adds that the population that depends on livestock is currently paying a very high price. “They're losing everything they had,” he says.

For his part, the general director of the aid organization Save the Children, Florian Westphal, said that people have no reserves left and that their livelihoods are threatened.

“The climate crisis came here,” stressed Westphal, who is currently visiting the regions most affected by drought.

dpa