A near-famine has hit the Horn of Africa, where the worst drought in 60 years sparked an extreme food crisis and high malnutrition.
The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said, "Two consecutive poor rainy seasons have resulted in one of the driest years since 1950-51 in many pastoral zones. There is no likelihood of improvement until 2012."
Over 10 million people are affected -- including 117,000 in Djibouti, 3.2 million each in Ethiopia and Kenya, 2.6 in Somalia and 883,000 in Uganda -- and the situation is quickly degenerating.
A U.N. "food security" map of the region indicated parts of Kenya and Somalia are one step away from being classified as "catastrophe-famine," the worst category.
Over 20,000 famished Somalis have crossed the southwest border into Kenya in the past two weeks. This influx was far greater than last year, when 6,000 to 8,000 Somali refugees crossed into Kenya during a typical month. Acute malnutrition rates among new Somali refugees are as high as 45 percent, "exceeding all emergency thresholds, and death rates are at emergency levels." |