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Ban Calls for Agricultural Transformation as Famine Hits Horn of Africa

Emergency delivery of aid to people facing drought-related hunger in the Horn of Africa must be accompanied by longer-term efforts to boost food security in the region, Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon said today, calling for an agricultural transformation that improves the livelihoods of rural communities in the region.

"Short-term relief must be linked to building long-term sustainability. This means an agricultural transformation that improves the resilience of rural livelihoods and minimizes the scale of any future crisis." - Mr. Ban

An estimated 11.6 million people in Ethiopia, Djibouti, Kenya and Somalia are facing severe food shortages with rates of malnutrition and related deaths having reached alarming levels in many parts of the region. The UN last week declared a state on famine in two areas of southern Somalia, the worst affected country.

Mr. Ban urged donors to provide a further $1 billion to assist those facing hunger. An estimated $2 billion in aid is required for the humanitarian response to the drought emergency, out of which $1 billion has so far been committed, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

Delegates at the meeting in Rome, organized by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) at the request of France, which holds the rotating presidency of the Group of 20 (G20), recognized that the hunger crisis in East Africa could rapidly worsen into a humanitarian disaster if a response is delayed.

Delegates at the meeting agreed that governments of the countries affected by the food emergency would manage response efforts in line with the Inter-Agency Standing Committee's (IASC) Horn of Africa Plan of Action.

They stressed that there is still a "window of opportunity" to support affected populations, including farmers, fishing communities and herders to restore their livelihoods and called for a special focus pastoralists and agro-pastoralists.

As humanitarian operations gather pace, WFP is feeding 1.5 million people in Somalia and making efforts to reach another 2.2 million in areas of the south that had remained inaccessible. Food drops are being considered, according to an OCHA update.

The UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) reported that 780,000 children are acutely malnourished in southern Somalia, a 35 per cent increase since January. The agency has sent in nearly 900 tons of therapeutic and supplementary feeding supplies, enough to assist some 38,000 children in the coming days.

The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is distributing aid packages to some 189,000 people in southern Somalia and working with local authorities and other partners to register Somali refugees arriving in large numbers in Kenya and Ethiopia. Efforts are also under way to urgently improve shelter, water and other aid services for the refugees.

Source: United Nations