Ethiopia – Page 2 – Desdemona Despair

The bones of other animals surround an emaciated cow in Ethiopia’s Somali Region. Carcasses are a daily reminder of the devastation caused by the 2021-22 drought. Photo: Michael Tewelde / WFP

June 27, 2022

Horn of Africa braces for “explosion of child deaths” as hunger crisis deepens – Three million livestock have died since mid-2021 from drought and disease

7 June 2022 (UNICEF) – An “explosion of child deaths” is likely and imminent in the Horn of Africa unless the international community takes immediate action to prevent a new hunger disaster, UN humanitarians warned on Tuesday. To illustrate continuing deep concern about emergency levels of malnutrition in Somalia and the wider Horn of Africa, […]

Map showing the March-to-May (Gu) 2022 rainfall as percent of average in the Horn of Africa. The March/April to June 2022 Gu season rainfall was below average across the country, worsening the existing drought conditions in Somalia. The seasonal rains, which started in mid to late April appear to be ending early by late May/early June 2022. The rains were characterized by heavy storms lasting a few hours and were concentrated within a short period. Heavy downpours led to high runoff and limited replenishment of pasture and water resources. The poor spatial and temporal distribution could not sustain crop growth nor replenish the water sources adequately. This map compares the 2022 Gu seasonal rainfall with the long-term average for the same season. Northern parts of Somalia recorded 30 percent to 60 percent of the average rainfall while central and southern regions received 45 percent to 75 percent of average. This is also consistent with observed rainfall data from rain-gauge stations. Data: CHC / CHIRPS. Graphic: FAO

June 26, 2022

Somalia faces grim humanitarian catastrophe – “When we lost our livestock, we lost our minds”

By Mariel Müller 17 June 2022 SOMALIA (DW) – In January 2022, Hirsiyow Mohamed and her three children left her drought-stricken village of Drumo in Somalia. But after 15 days of walking through the hot desert with almost no water and food, she arrived with only one child at the newly built camp for displaced people near […]

Prevalence of moderate or severe food insecurity in Africa in 2019 (left), and top eight wheat importers in Sub-Saharan Africa in 2020 (right). Challenges for food security in Sub-Saharan Africa will increase as Russia’s war on Ukraine persists. Graphic: IMF

May 7, 2022

Russia’s war on Ukraine dims global economic outlook as inflation accelerates – Africa faces new shock as war raises food and fuel costs – “This crisis unfolds even as the global economy has not yet fully recovered from the pandemic”

By Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas 19 April 2022 (IMF) – Global economic prospects have been severely set back, largely because of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. This crisis unfolds even as the global economy has not yet fully recovered from the pandemic. Even before the war, inflation in many countries had been rising due to supply-demand imbalances and […]

The bodies of cattle killed by devastating drought in Ethiopia, South Omo, 23 Feburary 2022. In the vast lowland part of the country in South Omo, communities have suffered high death rates among their cattle as a result of the severe drought. Photo: Michael Tewelde / WFP

April 21, 2022

Drought pushes up to 20 million people across horn of Africa closer to catastrophe each day – WFP has warned since 2021 that this drought will be disastrous without immediate action

NAIROBI, 19 April 2022 (WFP) – Desperately needed rains across the Horn of Africa have so far failed to materialise, almost a month into the current rainy season, and if these conditions continue, along with stagnant and even decreasing humanitarian aid, the number of hungry people due to drought could spiral from the currently estimated […]