Starvation Looms in African Horn
07/01/2006| IslamWeb
Millions of people could face starvation in the Horn of Africa, the United Nations food agency has warned.
The FAO says Somalia
There are also food shortages in parts of Ethiopia , Kenya and Djibouti
A BBC correspondent in northern Kenya
The BBC's Adam Mynott says six children have died in the past three weeks in Wajir hospital from hunger-related diseases and 15 of the 20 beds are occupied by malnourished children in varying states of health.
While trees with deep roots are still managing to push up a few scant leaves, everything else is brittle, brown and dry as tinder, he says.
BBC Africa analyst Martin Plaut says the UN agencies do not use words like "starvation" and "drought" lightly.
The FAO's Shukri Ahmed told the BBC News website that he was particularly worried because people are harvesting their crops at the moment and yet there is still not enough food.
"There should be a lull in the period of hunger," he said.
But food prices are still rising in both Somalia and Kenya
He also warned that long-term weather forecasts predicted that the next rains in April and March could be lower than normal.
'Wiped out'
In Ethiopia
On Thursday, international aid agencies stepped up their appeal for the estimated 2.5m people needing food aid in northern Kenya
Nearly 150,000 people - 20% of the population - face food shortages in Djibouti
The FAO says it is conducting an urgent assessment to find out what is required to meet these people's needs.
"Communities may soon be wiped out since they depend entirely on livestock," said the Red Cross on Thursday.
Children, weakened by months of hunger, are starting to die of diarrhoea, malaria and other diseases, and the existing centres for feeding malnourished children are overflowing, aid workers say.
PHOTO CAPTION
A severely malnourished young Kenyan boy sits in his hospital bed in Mandera town, 1,500 km (932 miles) northeast of the capital Nairobi
Source: BBC
Millions of people could face starvation in the Horn of Africa, the United Nations food agency has warned.
The FAO says
There are also food shortages in parts of
A BBC correspondent in northern
The BBC's Adam Mynott says six children have died in the past three weeks in Wajir hospital from hunger-related diseases and 15 of the 20 beds are occupied by malnourished children in varying states of health.
While trees with deep roots are still managing to push up a few scant leaves, everything else is brittle, brown and dry as tinder, he says.
BBC Africa analyst Martin Plaut says the UN agencies do not use words like "starvation" and "drought" lightly.
The FAO's Shukri Ahmed told the BBC News website that he was particularly worried because people are harvesting their crops at the moment and yet there is still not enough food.
"There should be a lull in the period of hunger," he said.
But food prices are still rising in both
He also warned that long-term weather forecasts predicted that the next rains in April and March could be lower than normal.
'Wiped out'
In
On Thursday, international aid agencies stepped up their appeal for the estimated 2.5m people needing food aid in northern
Nearly 150,000 people - 20% of the population - face food shortages in
The FAO says it is conducting an urgent assessment to find out what is required to meet these people's needs.
"Communities may soon be wiped out since they depend entirely on livestock," said the Red Cross on Thursday.
Children, weakened by months of hunger, are starting to die of diarrhoea, malaria and other diseases, and the existing centres for feeding malnourished children are overflowing, aid workers say.
PHOTO CAPTION
A severely malnourished young Kenyan boy sits in his hospital bed in Mandera town, 1,500 km (932 miles) northeast of the capital
Source: BBC