The threat of food shortage afflicts millions of people in different parts of Africa, the Horn of Africa in the lead, especially with the continuation of the severe drought that has hit the country in these regions in recent months, and the growing warnings of the possibility of worsening food security risks and the possibility of an epidemic of diseases related to water shortage and malnutrition. The most important since 2011- Drought threatens famine in the Horn of Africa – Are there solutions?

The most important since 2011- Drought threatens famine in the Horn of Africa – Are there solutions?

The latest of these warnings is the report released by the African Climate Prediction and Applications Center, which confirmed that the drought in the Horn of Africa has surpassed that of the region in 2011, killing thousands.

Less rain than usual

The threat of food shortage afflicts millions of people in different parts of Africa, the Horn of Africa in the lead, especially with the continuation of the severe drought that has hit the country in these regions in recent months, and the growing warnings of the possibility of worsening food security risks and the possibility of an epidemic of diseases related to water shortage and malnutrition.

The climate change that the whole world is experiencing, and at the heart of it the African continent, and whose effects have recently become more pronounced, is a determining factor in the hunger crisis that threatens the African people, alongside epidemic crises, tribal conflicts and successive waves of terrorism.

In its report released late last week, the IGAD-affiliated center predicted that the rainy season over the next (3) months will experience below normal rainfall with rising temperatures.

Rainfall during the rainy season contributes a significant percentage of up to 60 percent of total rainfall throughout the year in the GHA region, which includes Djibouti, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Somalia, parts of Kenya, Sudan, and South Sudan. and Uganda, and sometimes the term includes Burundi, Rwanda, and Tanzania.

“In parts of Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia and Uganda, which have recently been severely affected by drought, this could be the sixth consecutive rainy season,” the report released by the center said.

More than a million Somalis have fled the drought

And on Wednesday, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned that about 1.3 million Somalis, 80 percent of them women and children, have been forced to leave their homes for other regions to escape the drought in recent months.

He added that if Somalia had not yet reached the stage of famine, then (8.3) million Somalis; More than half of the population of this country needs humanitarian assistance this year.

For his part, Workneh Gebeyehu, executive secretary general of IGAD, called for urgent international mobilization to address the worsening drought, “so that we do not have regrets when it is too late.

International support to avert disaster

In the middle of last week, Guterres announced the largest-ever allocation from the United Nations Central Emergency Response Fund of $250 million to fight famine and address underfunded emergencies in 19 countries, including 12 African countries. .

The 19 countries also include a number of Arab countries. They are Somalia, Yemen, Sudan and Lebanon, according to the United Nations website.

This number includes (8) countries in which there are (20) million people within one step of famine, namely: Afghanistan, Burkina Faso, Haiti, Mali, Nigeria, Somalia, South Sudan and Yemen.

The impact of the crises in the Horn of Africa

Professor of Political Economy Karim El-Omda believes that Africa has been experiencing in recent years a number of crises that are worsening and have all led to major economic and social crises, foremost among which are the lack of food, medicine and basic needs. terrorism, as well as external interventions that drain state resources.

In his statement, the mayor refers to the repercussions of the Ukrainian crisis also on the African continent. Where the war in Ukraine has deprived several African regions of food support provided by the United Nations following the disruption of Ukrainian ports in the transport of grain for several months, before letting them through under an agreement signed between the UN and the Russian and Ukrainian authorities in the middle of last year, but it has been stopped several times as a result of political and military quarrels between Moscow and Kiev.

The most important since 2011- Drought threatens famine in the Horn of Africa – Are there solutions?

The mayor says: In addition to the drought crisis caused by severe climate change in these parts of the African continent, tribal conflicts and terrorism have also led to a significant reduction in the area of agricultural land in recent years, as large areas of Africa have repeatedly witnessed deliberate sabotage by some armed groups; this has affected agriculture and other small-scale projects associated with it, such as livestock breeding.

External interference in the African region, which has become an open space of conflict between Russia on the one hand and the European Union and the United States on the other, is depleting the bulk of the resources of the African continent and undermining any attempt to invest these resources for the benefit of the local population.

Solutions?

The most important since 2011- Drought threatens famine in the Horn of Africa – Are there solutions?

The mayor believes that the solutions must be radical, addressing the environment of conflict and tension, supporting sustainable development and infrastructure projects and long-term investments, as well as strengthening counterterrorism efforts and working to boost countries’ energies to support a stronger economy.

The director of the African Migration Observatory, Namira Negm, had called on the industrialized countries that are responsible for the increase in global emissions leading to violent climate change to take responsibility for Africa, which is afflicted by floods, drought and coastal erosion. This is the only way they can maintain global security.

Najm said in his speech at the symposium “Border Movement: The Geopolitics of Climate Migration” on climate challenges in Africa at the Munich Conference on International Security in Germany last Monday: “If the North is truly committed to solving the problems that will lead to security threats, then real development projects must be directed to the South.

The director of the African Migration Observatory, a research platform based in Morocco, listed the support and investment modalities that must be provided to Africa, including the creation of employment opportunities with projects compatible with climate change, and assistance in the dissemination of weather forecasting technologies. so that the countries of the continent can develop plans to reduce losses.