By Gustavo Capdevila
GENEVA, Aug 9 2000 (IPS)

Human suffering caused by droughts increased dramatically over the last decade, primarily affecting the poorest sectors of already impoverished countries, the World Food Programme (WFP) reported Tuesday.

The United Nations’ “front-line agency” in fighting world hunger is providing assistance this year to 16 million people, soaring from three million just four years ago.

But an estimated 100 million people in 20 countries are currently feeling the effects of droughts, an ongoing phenomenon that is not necessarily cyclic.

The areas most devastated by the lack of rains are the southern Sahara – ranging from Mauritania to the Sudan -, the Horn of Africa, a major portion of southern Africa, and some areas of central Asia, Central America and the Caribbean.

Today, WFP is “literally working in every part of the world to provide emergency food aid to people who have lost their crops or livelihoods due to drought,” said Francesco Strippoli, the organisation’s senior humanitarian adviser.

Throughout the 1990s, drought-related emergency operations represented 52 percent of WFP’s 194 natural disaster responses.

Droughts required 102 interventions, while flooding called for 50, hurricanes, typhoons and cyclones accounted for 21, damages from pests 10, earthquakes 7, and the rest were due to volcanic eruptions, avalanches and cold waves.

“Patterns of drought have been significantly altered in many parts of the world due to overuse of natural resources. These are often overexploited because poverty drives people and communities to degrade their productive base simply to survive,” said Strippoli.

Under these conditions, people farm increasingly marginal soils, reduce fallow periods, cut down forests to create arable land and fuel or overstock fragile rangelands, he said.

Political instability and armed conflict also affect people’s ability to confront drought situations. Strippoli cited the cases of the Horn of Africa, Burundi, the Sudan and Afghanistan, where the poorest sectors of the population have become increasingly vulnerable.

While people are competing for scarce resources, their socio- political and cultural problems may be exacerbated by reduced rainfall or poor crop yields.

Droughts produce other damaging effects at the macroeconomic level. They reduce agricultural production, push up food prices, constrict the labour market and employment opportunities, trigger a decline in income and drive the need to import food.

Among the most vulnerable to the effects of drought-caused food insecurity are subsistence populations, such as peasant farmers and shepherds, as well as rural dwellers who do not own land or hold very small plots, and thus depend on seasonal work in the agricultural sector.

It is common for adult males to leave areas affected by drought in order to search for food, while women and children tend to stay behind, struggling through food shortages, often living in assistance camps. In the Horn of Africa, nearly 70 percent of the population suffering the effects of drought is made up of women and children.

In this African region – Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia and Somalia -, which is currently at the most critical moment of a severe drought, more than 16 million people are facing serious food shortages.

Kenya is suffering one of the worst droughts in the nation’s history. With its annual demand for maize at 3.21 million tonnes, it will have to import 1.4 million tonnes next year, said the WFP adviser.

The drought that has devastated central Asian countries like Afghanistan and Tajikistan now extends to the Caucasus. There, Armenia’s mountain regions face losing 55 to 60 percent of their crops.

Central America and the Caribbean have also been hard hit by drought. Honduras can expect losses of 80 to 90 percent for its maize and bean crops. One-third of Haiti’s current harvest has already been destroyed by drought.

The same threat now extends to Middle Eastern countries, including Jordan, Syria and Iran.

In its three largest operations – in Ethiopia, Kenya and Afghanistan -, WFP is providing food for 12 million people at a total cost of more than 352 million dollars.

Excerpt:

By Gustavo Capdevila
GENEVA, Aug 9 2000 (IPS)

Human suffering caused by droughts increased dramatically over the last decade, primarily affecting the poorest sectors of already impoverished countries, the World Food Programme (WFP) reported Tuesday.

The United Nations’ “front-line agency” in fighting world hunger is providing assistance this year to 16 million people, soaring from three million just four years ago.

But an estimated 100 million people in 20 countries are currently feeling the effects of droughts, an ongoing phenomenon that is not necessarily cyclic.

The areas most devastated by the lack of rains are the southern Sahara – ranging from Mauritania to the Sudan -, the Horn of Africa, a major portion of southern Africa, and some areas of central Asia, Central America and the Caribbean.

Today, WFP is “literally working in every part of the world to provide emergency food aid to people who have lost their crops or livelihoods due to drought,” said Francesco Strippoli, the organisation’s senior humanitarian adviser.

Throughout the 1990s, drought-related emergency operations represented 52 percent of WFP’s 194 natural disaster responses.

Droughts required 102 interventions, while flooding called for 50, hurricanes, typhoons and cyclones accounted for 21, damages from pests 10, earthquakes 7, and the rest were due to volcanic eruptions, avalanches and cold waves.

“Patterns of drought have been significantly altered in many parts of the world due to overuse of natural resources. These are often overexploited because poverty drives people and communities to degrade their productive base simply to survive,” said Strippoli.

Under these conditions, people farm increasingly marginal soils, reduce fallow periods, cut down forests to create arable land and fuel or overstock fragile rangelands, he said.

Political instability and armed conflict also affect people’s ability to confront drought situations. Strippoli cited the cases of the Horn of Africa, Burundi, the Sudan and Afghanistan, where the poorest sectors of the population have become increasingly vulnerable.

While people are competing for scarce resources, their socio- political and cultural problems may be exacerbated by reduced rainfall or poor crop yields.

Droughts produce other damaging effects at the macroeconomic level. They reduce agricultural production, push up food prices, constrict the labour market and employment opportunities, trigger a decline in income and drive the need to import food.

Among the most vulnerable to the effects of drought-caused food insecurity are subsistence populations, such as peasant farmers and shepherds, as well as rural dwellers who do not own land or hold very small plots, and thus depend on seasonal work in the agricultural sector.

It is common for adult males to leave areas affected by drought in order to search for food, while women and children tend to stay behind, struggling through food shortages, often living in assistance camps. In the Horn of Africa, nearly 70 percent of the population suffering the effects of drought is made up of women and children.

In this African region – Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia and Somalia -, which is currently at the most critical moment of a severe drought, more than 16 million people are facing serious food shortages.

Kenya is suffering one of the worst droughts in the nation’s history. With its annual demand for maize at 3.21 million tonnes, it will have to import 1.4 million tonnes next year, said the WFP adviser.

The drought that has devastated central Asian countries like Afghanistan and Tajikistan now extends to the Caucasus. There, Armenia’s mountain regions face losing 55 to 60 percent of their crops.

Central America and the Caribbean have also been hard hit by drought. Honduras can expect losses of 80 to 90 percent for its maize and bean crops. One-third of Haiti’s current harvest has already been destroyed by drought.

The same threat now extends to Middle Eastern countries, including Jordan, Syria and Iran.

In its three largest operations – in Ethiopia, Kenya and Afghanistan -, WFP is providing food for 12 million people at a total cost of more than 352 million dollars.

Excerpt: