Millions in East Africa on brink of famine

Threat of starvation is at an unprecedented level, say aid agencies

East Africa is on the brink of famine after years of drought and conflict that has left 16 million people facing the threat of starvation, aid experts fear.

As politicians and officials from the United Nations gather in London to discuss security reforms in Somalia and the growing humanitarian crisis, the wider region teeters on the edge of a disaster the world has not seen for six years.

Famine has already gripped South Sudan, with hunger killing many there and in Somalia.

And with a national emergency declared in Kenya and fears of a new wave of drought in Ethiopia, there is a race against time to stop famine spreading.

Aid agencies say the threat of starvation is unprecedented, with millions at risk and a very real concern that tens – perhaps hundreds – of thousands could die.

Saleh Saeed, chief executive of the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC), an umbrella group of British charities, believes it is “touch and go” whether Somalia falls into famine.

He told the Press Association: “There are 2.9 million people in Somalia who are food insecure and 6.2 million people, half the population, are in urgent need of humanitarian assistance.

“These are people who do not know where their next meal is coming from. That 2.9 million is part of 16 million who are food insecure across the east Africa region, so the situation is touch and go at the moment.”

Famine was declared in parts of South Sudan in February.

Before that, the last time there was famine anywhere in the world was in Somalia in 2011, when 260,000 people died, mostly women and children.

Mr Saeed believes the two areas most at risk are South Sudan and Somalia, where a huge humanitarian effort has been mobilised to distribute food, water and medical supplies.

He said: “When you start to see tens of thousands, if not millions of people, affected by famine, where parents can’t afford to buy food for themselves, let alone their children, then we’re ultimately talking about people losing their lives in a situation that doesn’t need to happen.”

The crisis has largely been caused by prolonged drought.

Somalia has had less than half its normal rainfall for almost three years.

Prolonged dry periods have killed crops and livestock, forcing half a million people to leave their homes and roam the country in search of food and water, often ending up in shanty towns in the cities.

In Somaliland, a self-governed independent state north of Somalia, Action Aid is working to reach almost 15,000 of the most vulnerable people in some of the worst affected regions.

In the village of Gumar, not far from the border with Ethiopia, Action Aid workers are distributing food parcels to people that will last them a month or more.

These are people who do not know where their next meal is coming from. That 2.9 million is part of 16 million who are food insecure across the east Africa region, so the situation is touch and go at the moment

Picture: AP. South Sudanese children arrive at the Imvepi refugee settlement in northern Uganda.