| HotSpots H2O: As Famine Looms in East Africa, Humanitarian Groups Call for Urgent Action
In 2011, two failed rainy seasons thrust the Horn of Africa into the worst famine of the twenty-first century. An estimated 260,000 Somalis died of starvation, over half of them children. Antelope carcasses dotted the savanna. As crops withered, about half of the region’s livestock, whose milk millions of children relied on for nutrition, perished.
Such terrible outcomes could again be on the horizon. Climate models indicate the potential for another brutal famine in East Africa. As dry conditions bear on, humanitarian groups are calling on the international community to take action before it is too late. As of early September, over 29 million people were already experiencing food insecurity in the region, about 500,000 of which were in the worst category of “catastrophic,” meaning severe malnutrition and starvation. If the coming months bring another dry season—an outcome which all global and regional services are projecting—millions more will be pushed into hunger. | 