New

The threat of famine continues to grow in East Africa

According to a press release from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the organization has welcomed a contribution of $12 million from the United Nations Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF ) for a new project to provide emergency agricultural and animal supplies to thousands of farming and pastoral communities in 14 of the most severely affected counties.

Food insecurity is skyrocketing in Sudan, under the combined effect of armed conflict, drought, the COVID-19 pandemic, low production of major staple crops due to pest infestation and disease and economic turbulence. The “cascading effects” of the conflict in Ukraine could also worsen the situation.

“This generous contribution from CERF means that FAO can urgently provide essential agricultural inputs to vulnerable farming households before the start of the main agricultural season in June,” said Babagana Ahmadu, FAO Representative in Sudan. “This will ensure they can produce enough food to meet their needs for months to come.

The project will target 180,000 households, or 900,000 people, among the most vulnerable agricultural and pastoral communities, including internally displaced persons, returnees and refugees.

With two-thirds of Sudan’s population living in rural areas, FAO said providing smallholder farmers with agricultural support is essential to the humanitarian response.

The project covers both agricultural and livestock aid, which aims to rapidly reduce dependence on emergency food aid and provide a basis for medium to long-term recovery.

Assistance covers the provision of crop seeds, pulses and vegetables, donkey carts and hand tools, vaccines and veterinary drugs, animal feed, as well as donkey carts and livestock productive.

It also includes the provision of cash and the rehabilitation of community assets such as small-scale water infrastructure, pastures and hafirs, or artificial ponds for rainwater harvesting.

The FAO said the situation looks grim for millions of people in Sudan. The war in Ukraine is causing further spikes in food prices and the country is dependent on wheat imports from the Black Sea region.

The disruption of grain supplies from Sudan will make it harder and more expensive to import wheat, with current local prices per tonne costing 180% more than the same period last year.

In addition, high fertilizer prices on world markets will also affect imports and ultimately agricultural production.

While the CERF allocation is timely and vital, FAO added that an additional $35 million is urgently needed to ensure adequate support for two million vulnerable farming and pastoral households in Sudan.

Famine threat in East Africa

Meanwhile, UN agencies and their partners are calling for a rapid scale-up of actions to address the looming threat of famine in East Africa after four failed rainy seasons.

The drought, affecting Somalia, as well as parts of Kenya and Ethiopia, is probably the worst in 40 years, and the situation is expected to worsen.

The warning came in a statement released Monday by the FAO on behalf of the 14 partners, which include weather agencies and humanitarian organizations.

Some 16.7 million people in the region are currently facing high acute food insecurity and the numbers are expected to rise to 20 million by September, they said, citing data from a regional platform co-chaired by the FAO.

“The climatic conditions causing the current drought are expected to persist until the end of this year, posing a serious threat to the October-December 2022 season,” said Petteri Taalas, Secretary General of the World Meteorological Organization ( WMO).

Devastation and displacement

The rainy season from March to May this year, which appears to be the driest on record, has devastated livelihoods and led to a sharp increase in food, water and nutrition insecurity.

More than a million people have been displaced in Somalia and southern Ethiopia alone, while an estimated 3.6 million head of cattle have died in Kenya and Ethiopia. In addition, it is estimated that in the worst affected areas of Somalia, one in three livestock have perished since mid-2021.

The partners said the latest long-term seasonal forecast indicates that there is now a concrete risk that the rainy season from October to December could also fail.

“If these predictions materialize, the already severe humanitarian emergency in the region would worsen further,” they said.

TheCattleSite News Desk