Eastern Africa needs immediate aid to avert food crisis, says UN Envoy

The UN envoy for the world’s most vulnerable States today called for immediate international aid to help millions of people in Eastern Africa facing crippling food shortages.

It is estimated that some 3.5 million people in Kenya, 1.75 million in Ethiopia, 1.4 million in Somalia and 60,000 in Djibouti have been affected by severe drought conditions that wiped out this year’s crop.

Humanitarian agencies have raised the alarm that unless urgent supplies of food and non-food items are delivered to the region, the impact on people could be more severe than the drought of 2000.

The UN World Food Programme (WFP) faces a $44 million shortfall for its work in the region. Without new donations, the agency will run out of food to distribute in drought-affected areas, especially in Kenya, by the end of February.

“It is imperative that the donor community step up to the plate and avert this impending food crisis affecting some of the world’s Least Developed Countries (LDCs),” said Anwarul K. Chowdhury, the High Representative for LDCs, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States.

“For countries like Somalia, Djibouti, and Ethiopia, among the world's 50 LDCs, the situation is made even more precarious given the high levels of poverty,” he said. “Reports that thousands of food insecure families are already living on a knife’s edge are distressing and warrant immediate attention from the international community.”

WFP now has only about one quarter of the 64,000 tonnes of food aid needed to feed drought victims in Somalia through June.

Mr. Chowdhury called for “concerted and sustained” measures to solve the LDCs chronic food shortages.

“I implore the international community to take practical measures to deliver on its promise to help LDCs attain food security and reduce malnutrition,” he said in a statement released in New York.