WFP: 13 million face severe hunger amid worst drought in Ethiopia, Kenya

The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) says an estimated 13 million people in Kenya, Somalia, and Ethiopia face severe hunger across the Horn of Africa.

The UN agency, on Tuesday, said three consecutive rainy seasons have failed as the regions recorded its driest conditions since 1981.

The drought destroyed crops and inflicted “abnormally” high livestock deaths, forcing rural families who rely on herding and farming to abandon their homes, it added.

Michael Dunford, WFP’s regional director in East Africa, said water and grazing land are in short supply and forecasts of below-average rainfall in coming months only threaten more misery.

“Harvests are ruined, livestock are dying, and hunger is growing as recurrent droughts affect the Horn of Africa,” Dunford said.

According to him, “the situation requires immediate humanitarian action” to avoid a repeat of a crisis like that of Somalia in 2011 when 250,000 died of hunger during a prolonged drought.

The drought has impacted pastoral and farmer populations across southern and south-eastern Ethiopia, south-eastern and northern Kenya and south-central Somalia.

WFP said that the impacts are compounded by high staple food prices, inflation, and low demand for agricultural labour, further worsening families’ ability to buy food.

Across the three drought-affected countries, WFP noted that it is providing life-saving food and nutrition assistance to affected communities. 

This week, the agency said it would launch its Regional Drought Response Plan for the Horn of Africa, calling for $327 million to respond to the immediate needs of 4.5 million people over the next six months.