Call For Aid As 18Million Face Starvation In Africa
Call for aid as 18m face starvation in Africa
http://news.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=1658552005
ROB CRILLY
IN NAIROBI
MORE than 18 million people are facing starvation throughout the Horn of Africa, according to a report by a United States monitoring agency.
The Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS Net) says poor rains and high food prices have left ten African countries in need of food aid.
The latest warnings come amid mounting concern about a crisis unfolding in Niger. Yesterday, the United Nations' most senior humanitarian official accused the world of pushing the west African state to the brink of famine by ignoring repeated appeals for aid.
About 150,000 children will die soon without emergency supplies of food, said Jan Egeland, out of 2.5 million people needing help. In the east, the food shortages are concentrated in Ethiopia, where more than half of the 18 million affected people live, the FEWS Net report said. At least half of neighbouring Eritrea's population of 4.5 million is also in peril. A five-year drought means it can cover only about a fifth of its food needs.
A further 2.69 million need emergency aid in Uganda, while Djibouti, Sudan, Rwanda, Tanzania, Kenya, Burundi and Somalia are also facing problems. The report cites poor spring rains, particularly in Somalia, north-eastern Kenya, parts of Ethiopia and Eritrea as the cause of greater food insecurity. It warned that nomadic cattle herders would need several good years to recover and that scarce grazing land would increase tribal tensions.
Laura Melo, the World Food Programme spokeswoman in Nairobi, said the problems in the greater Horn area and Niger came on top of shortages in southern Africa, where ten million people are estimated to need help from relief agencies. "Africa continues to face great challenges," she said.
"At a time when everyone has been talking about aid after the G8 summit, these places like Niger, Darfur in Sudan and Ethiopia show what can happen when promises of aid take time to materialise. These countries need assistance to save lives."
Delays in meeting funding pledges are blamed for taking Niger to the edge of disaster. Aid workers there have been warning of an impending crisis for almost a year.
Millions of people lost their crops last year after locusts ripped through the country. A drought followed that ended only last month, leaving rural populations facing a desperate situation until the next millet harvest, due in October. The UN first appealed for assistance in November and received almost no response, said Mr Egeland. Another appeal for £9.3 million in March raised about £580,000.
"The world wakes up when we see images on the TV and when we see children dying," Mr Egeland said. "We have received more pledges in the past week than we have in six months. But it is too late for some." The UN has received about a third of the £17 million it needs, he added.
In common with many other crises in Africa, UN officials say the late response in Niger shows how the rich world often misses chances to avoid worse disasters by reacting only when situations reach critical proportions. Gian Carlo Cirri, the UN World Food Programme's representative in Niger's capital, Niamey, said the lack of action meant that the cost of dealing with the crisis was increasing.
"It's a matter of saving lives," he said. "The pity is we designed early enough a preventative strategy, but we didn't have the chance to implement it."
