Drought and famine in Africa

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Drought and famine in Africa

Africa like any other continent has its own share of problems; some problems are global while others are specifically tied to Africa. Drought and famine is one such problem that has been part of Africa from time in memorial, the effects of drought is always severe and affects millions of people. The drought situation especially in the horn of Africa and the northern arid areas of Kenya has been a major concern for a long time, as result humanitarian help is always required in the area or the people face starvation.

An article by Michael Krebs titled “Worst drought in 60 years in East Africa could impact 10 million” looks at the situation on drought in, Ethiopia, Somalia and the northern parts of Kenya. The writer analyses the current situation of the drought, causes of the drought, financial constraints facing the World Food Program in its quest to help the millions of people, and what needs to be done to avert a crisis that might cause death of millions of the people in the area (http://digitaljournal.com/article/308965).

Situation

The people living in the area are nomads who move from one place to another in search of food and pasture for their livestock; the situation is however grim as the drought has lead to deaths of thousands of livestock which is the source of their livelihood. In areas where a bit of farming is done crops have also failed.  The drought has also forced thousands of people to move into the refugee camps, thus causing a crisis, the camp was built to accommodate about 90,000 now holds about 380,000 making it one of the biggest refugee camps in the world (http://digitaljournal.com/article/308965).

The situation is made worse by the increase of food prices and the persistent lack of rain, according to Dr Unni Krishnan the disaster coordinator for children’s development organization Plan International, “All the predictions show seasonal rains are far away and the situation will deteriorate — we have not even reached the peak of the crisis.” .............