RIGHTS-AFRICA: Horn of Africa Faces Starvation Deaths

By Sanjay Suri Reprint | | Print |

Sanjay Suri

LONDON, Oct 28 2002 (IPS) - Food shortage in Ethiopia and Eritrea can bring a "devastating wave of human suffering and death as early as next year," World Food Programme executive director James Morris warned Monday.

"The situation is very serious," Morris told IPS in London. "At least 10 million people are at serious risk of starvation."

The World Food Programme (WFP) is seriously short of both money and food to provide the necessary help, Morris said. "This year we have worked with a budget of 1.7 billion dollars," he said. "But we need about 2.5 billion dollars for all the projects on hand – and this does not include funds needed to address the crisis in Ethiopia and Eritrea."

The crisis in Ethiopia and Eritrea in what is called the Horn of Africa has "come on suddenly, the numbers are staggering and the needs are enormous," Morris said. No rain in March and no rain in the current season has meant "devastatingly low crop production."

In Eritrea an estimated two-thirds of the population of about three million has been affected by drought, Morris said. Almost the entire cereal harvest has been lost. The larger problem is in Ethiopia. Recent assessment missions reveal widespread losses of crops, with alarming levels of malnutrition already in some areas. A large number of women and children in these areas were reported to be suffering seriously.

"These figures are large and dramatic and the international community should take notice," Morris said. "If donors respond quickly, we can help avoid an immense human tragedy there."

Ethiopia and Eritrea need about 800,000 tonnes of food in the first year of emergency, Morris said. "Of that we need 270,000 tonnes this year. We have 200,000 tonnes, but no commitments for next year."

The WFP is making plans to assist about four million people in Ethiopia and one million people in Eritrea. The governments in these countries and international non-governmental organisations (NGOs) are expected to assist the rest.

"We know how to get food to the hungry and poor around the world, but we need the resources," Morris said. "Humanitarian agencies have never had the need for the kind of support that we have here right now."

The WFP is looking for help particularly from the U.S., Canada, Australia, South Africa, Britain, Germany, Japan and the Nordic countries. The South African government has given the WFP 100 million tonnes of maize this year. Russia has given 30,000 tonnes of wheat, with cash support for distribution.

The Horn of Africa has been hit by climate changes that are affecting many other parts of the world. In southern Africa drought has brought hunger that is threatening an estimated 14.4 million people. In Afghanistan four years of drought following decades of conflict have brought misery to about 10 million people.

In the Central American countries Nicaragua, Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala 1.5 million people are at risk of starvation, Morris told media representatives later. A large number of children in these countries face malnutrition.

"All over the world surpluses are down, and prices are up," Morris said. "Agencies like the WFP and hundreds of highly effective NGOs are finding it increasingly difficult to find the resources to respond adequately to the growing number of emergencies. Government budgets are stretched and contending with a global economic slowdown."

The WFP was feeding 6.5 million people in North Korea but it has now stopped support to three million of them because of insufficient funding for WFP operations there. "We have stopped sending food to secondary schools, to the elderly, and to some parts of the country," Morris said. "We might have to cut food for another one million."

Food support for North Korea cannot be resumed without substantial new help, Morris said. He is visiting Beijing and Tokyo next week to try to raise support for North Korea. The U.S. is at present the largest food donor to North Korea, Morris said.

In many of these countries the crisis has resulted from an erratic weather pattern. The World Disasters Report 2002 says "the past two years have seen the highest number of weather-related disasters reported over the decade." The food shortages cause have made this year a period of unprecedented crisis.

Countries that have diversified crops to include varieties more resistant to drought have withstood the changes better, Morris said. So have countries with a strong irrigation system and reservoir facilities.

An estimated 800 million people face food shortage, and about 300 million children do not get food that is nutritious enough, according to estimates by the WFP, the world’s largest humanitarian agency. Last year it fed more than 77 million people in 82 countries, including most of the world’s refugees and internally displaced people.