Up to 20 million people in drought-stricken parts of Somalia, Kenya and Ethiopia could face acute food insecurity by September as livestock and crops struggle to survive, said 14 humanitarian and meteorological agencies. Four rainy seasons in a row have failed, a streak not seen in 40 years, and forecasts say there is a concrete risk that the October, November and December rains could fail, too.
“Should these forecasts materialize, the already severe humanitarian emergency in the region would further deepen,” said the agencies in a joint statement issued by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization. The statement said the extreme, widespread and persistent multi-season drought in the three nations was unprecedented. One-third of the livestock in the hardest-hit parts of Somalia have perished since mid-2021, according to the Famine Early Warning Systems Network.
“A rapid scaling up of actions is needed now to save lives and avert starvation and death,” said the groups. Regardless of the outcome of the October-December rainy season, “conditions will not recover quick enough to see food security improvements by mid-2023.”