About 129,000 people live in extreme food insecurity in the broader region of the Horn of Africa (‘Great Horn of Africa’), which has been experiencing a massive drought for several years. The World Health Organization warns against this.
“When I speak of the Great Horn of Africa, I am referring to Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan and Uganda,” said Liesbeth Aelbrecht, a WHO representative for the region. “We have been observing an increase in epidemics and the number of malnourished children in that region for years.
As a result, millions of people are affected, and the prospects for food insecurity are not improving,” said Aelbrecht.
According to WHO, 48 million people face critical food insecurity. Of these, six million people are in an “emergency “, and 129,000 are in a “catastrophic situation”. Of those 129,000 people, according to Aelbrecht, 33,000 live in South Sudan and 96,000 in Somalia. They “look death in the eye,” according to the WHO.
The drought caused by five consecutive failed rainy seasons has already led to the death of millions of livestock and crop failures and forced millions of people to leave their regions to find water and food elsewhere. Food insecurity also leads to numerous epidemics. The WHO says it needs 178 million dollars (more than 167 million euros) to support the population in the region this year.