Famine risk in Horn of Africa

2008-12-04 21:11

Poznan - The hunger crisis in the Horn of Africa is getting worse and could tip into famine if the next harvest fails, the head of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said on Thursday.

UN food aid is not reaching enough places affected by drought, and the Red Cross has decided to boost its response in the region urgently, IFRC secretary-general Bekele Geleta told Reuters in an interview at UN climate change talks in Poland.

"The situation is deteriorating ... If the next harvest goes bad, it can very easily lead to famine," said Geleta, himself from Ethiopia.

Food production across the Horn of Africa has suffered because of poor rains while global food prices have risen.

In Somalia, fighting between the government and Islamists has left millions hungry. Conflict also affects parts of Ethiopia.

$1.4bn needed

In September, the United Nations estimated that nearly 17 million people were in urgent need of food and other aid across the Horn of Africa, with donors having contributed only half the $1.4bn needed to feed them for the rest of the year.

The Red Cross said it had identified 600 000 people in remote areas of Ethiopia without access to food.

It said it also planned to provide food and water to a further 400 000 people in Djibouti, Somalia and Kenya.

"We learned that the food situation is getting worse and worse, and that the reach of the (UN) World Food Programme is not really good enough - probably because they have not had sufficient response to their appeal," Geleta said.

The Red Cross has joined forces with UN agencies at the December 1-12 climate change talks in Poland to urge governments to do more to reduce the risk of climate-related disasters.

Geleta said global warming was a factor in the worsening droughts and floods affecting the Horn of Africa over the past three decades, and more must be done to protect people.

- Reuters