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60 Million Threatened by Emergencies
By Thalif Deen UNITED NATIONS, Apr (IPS) - Over 60 million people worldwide are threatened by food shortages and food emergencies of varying intensity, the Rome-based Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has warned. The prevailing emergencies worldwide have been caused primarily by natural and man-made disasters. In eastern Africa alone, some 18 million people still rely on food assistance, following severe droughts last year, coupled with ongoing military conflicts in the region. Kenya, Sudan and Eritrea account for about 16 million, or 89 percent of the total. In its annual 'Food Outlook' for 2000-2001 released Apr 11, FAO says that cereal output in 2001 would be insufficient to meet the global needs in 2001-2002. The initial forecast for world cereal output in 2001 is about 1.9 billion tonnes: almost 2.0 percent above 2000. Wheat output is forecast at 585 million tonnes, unchanged from last year's crop, while that of coarse grain is seen to rise by almost 4.0 percent to 905 million tonnes. The production of rice is tentatively forecast to remain unchanged at 399 million tonnes. According to FAO, food shortages and emergencies will continue to affect many countries in all regions of the world because projected food supplies will fall far short of demand. In Latin America and the Caribbean alone, nearly 1.5 million people continue to receive food assistance, mainly due to weather-induced crop losses. The FAO also points out that recovery from Hurricane Mitch, which hit Central America in 1998, has been slow in Honduras, Nicaragua and El Salvador, while a dry spell in the 2000 rainy season has caused below-average yields in food and agriculture. In El Salvador, several earthquakes in January and February, caused serious damage to infrastructure, which has already affected food production in 2001. In Haiti, chronic economic problems has forced the strife-torn country to depend on food assistance. In Asia, severe winter weather earlier this year has exacerbated an already difficult food situation in North Korea and Mongolia. In both countries, large numbers of livestock, which provide an important source of livelihood and income for a large section of the population, have died. The FAO also says that successive droughts in parts of north west India and Pakistan have resulted in reduced harvests and exposed large numbers of people to food shortages. At the same time, vulnerable groups in Cambodia and Laos still require food assistance following last year's devastating monsoon floods. In the drought-affected, low-income food deficit countries of Central Asia, some four million people continue to survive on international donor assistance, particularly in Armenia, Georgia, Tajikistan and Azerbaijan. But the countries worst affected by food shortages are mostly in Africa. On Wednesday, a coalition of about 42 humanitarian and development agencies said that the international community is not responding adequately to appeals for food by Kenya where four million people are facing starvation. The coalition - which includes Oxfam, Doctors without Borders, Christian Aid, World Vision, CARE and Save the Children - urged governments and donors to support the 89 million dollar appeal for food made by the Kenyan government and the World Food Programme (WFP) last February. ''So far, there are very few pledges to the operation and the WFP fears that food will run out this month,'' the coalition said. Emma Naylor of Oxfam said that ''despite rain in some areas, the needs are still immense''. ''This has been the worst drought that Kenya has faced in living memory. Assessments show that as many as 4.4 million people will require food aid in Kenya until the end of the year. News that food will run out by May is disastrous,'' she added. In recent months, parts of Kenya seem to have been recovering from the devastating drought, but food shortages in the north and east continue to cause serious problems. According to the coalition, farmers have not recovered from crop failure, and hundreds and thousands of camels, cattle and goats have died, depriving pastoral communities of their only source of livelihood. Assessments show that even if the current rainy season is good, food will be required until the end of the year. ''It is desperately sad to think that despite all the progress that has been made and all the lives that have been saved, we are facing a return to wide-spread suffering,'' says Alloys Omolo of CARE. ''We know it is tough to keep responding over and over again, but donors should realise that if they don't support this appeal, the positive impact of their earlier response will be wasted,'' she adds. ''When you get down to the ground and see just how much effort communities are making to cope with this drought, it is an inspiration. There is no way that we should turn our backs on those people now,'' she says. (END/IPS) |
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