This archive report was first published on 26 July 2019.
Published on July 26, 2019, aid agencies warned that East Africa could suffer a repeat of the devastating 2011 famine that killed hundreds of thousands of people unless foreign donors provide funds to help drought-hit communities in Somalia, Kenya, and Ethiopia now.
More than 15 million people across the Horn of Africa are struggling to access basic necessities like food and water after consecutive poor rainy seasons destroyed their crops and left reservoirs and rivers dry, according to British charity Oxfam.
‘We cannot wait until images of malnourished people and dead animals fill our television screens. We need to act now to avert disaster,’ said Oxfam’s regional director for the Horn of Africa Lydia Zigomo in a statement.
Kenya, Somalia, Uganda, and Ethiopia are among the countries suffering increasingly erratic weather linked to climate change, resulting in dry spells that have destroyed crops and pastures, leaving animals starving and pushing millions of people to the brink of extreme hunger.
According to Oxfam, drought is affecting more than eight million people in Ethiopia, more than five million in Somalia, and more than 1.5 million in Kenya.
Following the 2011 famine, donors including the United States, Britain, and the European Commission rallied speedily to avert a famine when the next drought struck East Africa in 2017 — providing almost 75 percent of the Ksh. 180 billion needed.
However, two years on, Oxfam said donors had met just 35 percent of the Ksh. 240 billion needed, leaving local aid agencies in Somalia struggling to support drought-hit communities with limited resources.
