The continent is heading for a humanitarian catastrophe. The relentless drought decimating livestock and crops, and the high price of wheat imported from Ukraine and Russia, are one of the causes of the drama ahead
I hope it rains. In Africa today, the difference between a profuse wet season and a stingy rainy season is literally a matter of life and death. Over the past four years, from the Atlantic to the Indian Ocean, that water shortage has devastated crops, wiped out livestock and pushed up staple food prices. But it would be a grave mistake to assume that we are dealing with a temporary crisis or that we are witnessing problems beyond the control of man and especially that of the citizen of the West. The perfect storm hitting the continent is the result of climate change and local and global conflicts (the war in Ukraine), wrong strategies, violence as a way of life and lack of solidarity on a planet fully capable of supporting all its inhabitants. to feed. Voices from various humanitarian organizations warn us of the coming catastrophe.
La Niña is not the only culprit. Yes, this climate phenomenon has impacted the lack of water resources that plague the Horn of Africa, but the region’s hardships are due to political failure. Democracy has found no roots in this part of the planet and during this period wars have wreaked havoc, especially in the Abyssinian region of Tigray, ravaged by internal strife and cut off from international aid. Corruption is also another negative factor. The Risk and Compliance portal, which measures country risks, ensures that embezzlement of public funds is a common practice of the Somali ruling elite, responsible for restoring a state that collapsed three decades ago.
The reasons for the disaster are plentiful and are juxtaposed. The succession of disasters such as irregular rainfall, flooding and locust plagues has led to food insecurity in scenarios without public funds. “The severe drought affects 90% of the territory and has decimated crops and livestock, making people less able to cope,” said Abdiaziz A. Adani, head of political advocacy for the NGO Oxfam in Somalia, a mainly cattle ranching area. “Some families who owned 600 animals keep 4 or 5. The lack of water and pasture has weakened livestock and the price of animals has fallen.”
The crisis is taking place in a desolate environment. It is not accidental and the reasons are guilty. The Ethiopian regime is trying to promote its trend of centralization at the expense of regional conflicts and in this context Amnesty International speaks of the likely committing of crimes against humanity and the displacement of millions of people for war reasons. On the other hand, armed groups like Al Shabaab hinder the distribution of aid, try to confiscate some of the funds for their own benefit or directly take over its distribution in the areas under their control in order to gain the legitimacy to which they desire.
Demotion is not a sudden process. Inflation skyrocketed with trade restrictions due to the fight against Covid-19 and has worsened after the impact of the war in Ukraine and the trade blockade. “92% of wheat imports come from that country and Russia,” said the Somali spokesman. “This has pushed prices to stratospheric levels and the population cannot access it.” As he explains, twenty gallons of oil cost $20 in January and $52 today, while a 50-pound bag of wheat flour in rural areas has gone from 26 to 32 or more due to the increase in fuel.
The survival of Somalia’s 7.7 million people depends on humanitarian aid and 350,000 children are at risk, according to the United Nations. The European Union, the FAO and the UN have announced aid programs, but the economic resources are not arriving. “Only 28% of the requested funds are covered,” Adani complains.
The loss of 2.2 million head of livestock has led to a widespread exodus among Ethiopia’s agropastoral communities. According to the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), 25 million Abyssinians, almost a quarter of the population, are already affected by insecurity. From the field, Inés Lezama, coordinator of the Unicef food cluster, sends a message of hope. “There are inexpensive, large-scale responses when early detection is used,” he says. “We can promote access to adequate food, vaccines, drinking water and social protection mechanisms.”
The insensitivity of the North seems to be the biggest obstacle to carrying out this urgent action. “We are not sufficiently informed, we are not interested in what is happening and why, or what does not give us a direct impact. We appreciate what’s similar, what affects people with lifestyles like ours and we forget about the rest of the planet,” he laments. “But it has to do with us and how we’ve adapted the climate. The world is changing and we’re closing rather our eyes.
The exotic Kenya is also affected by the disaster. The priest and doctor José Luis Orpella spent thirty-two years in the northwestern county of Garissa, the most desert-like area. “Fuel is up 60% and inflation is 14%. The communities are suffering a lot from this situation and the local and national authorities are not doing much to alleviate it, perhaps because it has gotten out of hand and there must be a large population or because of the political climate as there is a general election in August », he explains, lamenting: «People complain but do nothing».
Hunger is causing unimaginable consequences from Europe. “The lack of food is deteriorating the health of 1.5 million people living with HIV in this country,” he warns. Others are irreversible. Girls as young as 12 are forced to undergo female genital mutilation and child marriage so that the family can benefit from their dowry. Forced marriages have increased by 119% in this region, Unicef statistics show. Moreover, young people take up arms to get a salary regardless of creed and ideology. “It has always been this way,” warns the missionary, who has the support of the NGO Manos Unidas. “Poverty and corruption favor Al Shabaab trying to recruit supporters.”
Summer is a time of fear in the Sahel, that strip between the Sahara and the savanna. The previous crop has already been consumed and the next one will be harvested in October. Meanwhile, the men emigrate in search of a temporary livelihood and the women remain in the village, with an average of 7 children and no resources, waiting for remittances that may never arrive.
This year the situation is even more serious. Andrés Conde, executive director of Save The Children, has just returned from Niger. “We are in the first phase of a massive food crisis,” he says. “Many children with acute malnutrition are already arriving in care centers.”
The price of fertilizers, generally imported, has doubled and its inaccessibility is the chronicle of a predicted disaster. “Without them, the country, which is very poor, will be much less productive. The previous one was already scarce, but the next is surrounded by greater uncertainty,” he warns. “The livestock fed with scraps die because there is nothing left to support goats and chickens.”
Joining criminal gangs or radical guerrillas is again a way of life. “Hunger is the fuse of conflict and scarcity causes violence. Let’s not forget that the large-scale deaths of so many innocent people will not go unpunished,” said Conde. Many of the allegations point to militias ethnically associated with the Peul or Fulani, a nomadic ethnic group spread across the region that has been given access. to illegal arms trade, another cause of insecurity.
The disaster figures are staggering. In the Sahel, 38 million people are in a situation of food insecurity and 6.3 million children under the age of five suffer from acute malnutrition. Paloma Martín de Miguel, Regional Director of Action Against Hunger, calls for the implementation of United Nations Resolution 2417, adopted four years ago, which aims to document the use of hunger as a weapon of war and provide aid to those affected. independent of the fight against terrorism and immigration control policies. “That the work of NGOs is respected outside those who exercise authority in the area.”
But the viewer does not stop at Africa. “Ukraine monopolizes attention and donors,” he argues, pointing out that the funds pledged do not reach 20% of the programmed amounts. “We fear that next year the needs will be even greater and the funding less,” he points out, accusing him of not answering a perfectly acceptable problem. “We need to address the causes and ways to combat this threat. We need to guarantee services and make local actors more resilient in the event of adversity. Hunger is predictable.”
Ramata Santo keeps only one of his goats, though he once had twelve, and he keeps only ten of the twenty-four chickens that used to riot in his corral. Even more dramatic, three of his seven oxen have survived to this day. Some have perished, others have been sold at a loss to survive. But it is that this farmer from Burkina Faso has lost her pastures, has too little food and can no longer pay her children’s school fees. Meanwhile, grain is up 40% due to low local production and the risk of supplies to a country at war. “Our region is facing the worst famine in a decade,” said Assalama Dawalack Sidi, Oxfam’s regional director for West Africa.
Political measures, he says, are the driving force behind the drama of Santo and millions like her. “The International Monetary Fund has used Covid loans to aggressively impose a $69.8 billion austerity plan on West African states over the next five years.” In addition, regulations to contain the pandemic involved banning transhumance and the concentration of livestock in small areas.
Inequality is exacerbated by other public initiatives that he believes are no less unfair. “38% of the region’s workforce are farmers, but they don’t have access to credit, insurance and property registration,” he claims. “Government programs favor landowners who farm for export.” The result is the collapse of the self-consumption system and the erratic dependence on the acquisition of foreign grain. “The war in Ukraine has accelerated its devastating impact.”
The specialist points out that the UN’s urgent appeal to help the central Sahel and Lake Chad has so far delivered only 20% of the requested resources. “On the contrary and scandalously enough, the food industry billionaires have increased their wealth by $38.2 billion in the past two years.”
Source: La Verdad
I am an experienced and passionate journalist with a strong track record in news website reporting. I specialize in technology coverage, breaking stories on the latest developments and trends from around the world. Working for Today Times Live has given me the opportunity to write thought-provoking pieces that have caught the attention of many readers.
