This archive report was first published on 14 May 2020.
East Africa is facing a perfect storm of disasters that threatens the region's food security. The COVID-19 pandemic has added to the list of challenges that include recurrent floods and locust invasions.
According to the World Food Programme (WFP), the pandemic has led to 'multiple famines of biblical proportions.' WFP chief David Beasley described the situation as a 'hunger pandemic' that could kill 300,000 people every day.
Beasley noted that there are currently 821 million food-insecure people in the world. In East Africa, the situation is particularly dire, with widespread flooding affecting nearly 3.4 million people in 2019, according to a January 2020 report by the UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs (Ocha).
The floods, which were exacerbated by drought and instability in the region, caused population displacements, livelihood disruption, and increased humanitarian needs. South Sudan, Somalia, and Ethiopia were the most affected countries, while Kenya and Uganda experienced landslides and destructive flooding.
The desert locust upsurge has also remained alarming, particularly in Ethiopia, Kenya, and Somalia, where a new generation of locusts is emerging. This poses potentially adverse impacts on agricultural seasonal yields and local economies, affecting food security.
The indirect impacts of COVID-19, including government interventions to control the spread of the virus, have driven a slowdown in economic and trade activity. This has led to a sharp decline in household income and, in some cases, contributed to spikes in food prices.
According to the Famine Early Warning Systems Network (Fews Net), household food availability from mid- to late 2020 could be affected if access to seeds and agricultural inputs becomes constrained. Reductions in household income to purchase food and essential non-food commodities, coupled with limited coping options, are driving an increase in the stressed, crisis, and emergency food situations for populations across the region.
Already, in 2019, over 27 million people in six Intergovernmental Authority on Development member states were classified as being in acute food and livelihood crisis or worse. The six countries faced all three main drivers of acute food insecurity – weather extremities, conflict, and economic shocks – with negative impacts reinforcing each other.
Now, experts are worried about the outcomes of the COVID-19 pandemic and renewed flooding in parts of the region, which will add to the converging issues.
