UN issues warning of food shortages after drought in Horn of Africa
“The magnitude of the situation calls for scaled up action and coordination at national and regional levels,” FAO Deputy Director-General, Climate and Natural Resources, Maria Helena Semedo told a high-level panel on the humanitarian situation in the Horn of Africa, chaired by the United Nations Secretary-General, António Guterres, which was held yesterday on the side lines of the 28th African Union (AU) Summit in Addis-Ababa, Ethiopia.
“This is, above all, a livelihoods and humanitarian emergency – and the time to act is now. We cannot wait for a disaster like the famine in 2011,” she added.
FAO estimates that over 17 million people are currently in crisis and emergency food insecurity levels in member-countries of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), namely Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan and Uganda, which are all in need of urgent humanitarian assistance.
Acute food shortage and malnutrition also remains to be a major concern in many parts of South Sudan, Sudan (west Darfur) and Uganda’s Karamoja region.
The FAO warns that if response is not immediate and sufficient, the risks are massive and the costs will be high.
For his part Mr. Guterres called for a stronger commitment to work together: “We must express total solidarity with the people of Ethiopia on the looming drought, as a matter of justice.”
“FAO’s partnership to build resilience to shocks and crises in the Horn of Africa is critical and will increase,” said FAO Assistant Director-General and Regional Representative for Africa, Bukar Tijani.
Recently, The FAO and IGAD agreed on some key steps to enhance collaboration in mitigating the severe drought currently affecting the countries in the Horn of Africa region and strengthening food security and resilience analysis.
source: un.org
