http://mgafrica.com/article/2015-10-23-el-nino-to-cause-80-rise-in-east-africans-needing-aid-risk-of-of-22-million-empty-stomachs-in-region-un
El Nino to cause 80% rise in East Africans living on the edge. Risk of
22 million empty stomachs in region - UN
23 Oct 2015 21:15AFP
Ethiopia is an especial concern, with number needing food aid rising
from 2.9m at start 2015 to 8.2m today, with 15m likely to need aid by
early 2016.
Solidarity in adversity: Somali children hold hands as they follow
their mother and brothers at the reception centre of the Dolo Ado
refugee camp near the Ethiopia-Somalia border in a past photo.
(Photo/AFP).
HEAVY floods and drought sparked by the El Nino weather phenomenon in
East Africa in coming weeks could see the number of people needing aid
soar by over 805, the UN warned Friday.
El Nino is sparked by a warming in sea surface temperatures in the
equatorial Pacific, setting off changing weather patterns across the
world, and can cause unusually heavy rains in some areas, and drought
elsewhere.
“The number of food insecure people in the region is expected to
increase by 83%, from approximately 12 million people at the start of
2015, to 22.1 million people by the start of 2016,” the UN Office for
the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said in a report
Friday.
“In addition, between 2.7 million and 3.5 million people could be
affected by floods,” the report added, focusing on 10 nations across
East Africa and the Horn of Africa.
The El Nino phenomenon, a global weather pattern known to wreak havoc
every few years, is expected to last until early 2016.
While some countries—including Sudan, Eritrea, Ethiopia and
Djibouti—could see drier conditions, other countries including Kenya,
Somalia and Uganda could see floods.
The UN said that government and aid workers are “racing against the
clock to prepare for floods caused by El Nino,” and have appealed for
$451 million (409 million euros).
Ethiopia is an especial concern, with the number needing food aid
rising from 2.9 million at the beginning of 2015 to 8.2 million today,
with some 15 million people likely to need aid by early next year, the
UN said.
East Africa was struck by intense drought in 2011, the worst in 60
years, with some 12 million people in four nations affected.
Parts of Somalia were declared famine zones, and more than 250,000
people died, half of them children.
South Sudan, where fighting continues in its 22-month long civil war,
is also likely to be affected. The UN warned on Thursday that over
30,000 people there are already starving to death, and that tens of
thousands more are on the brink of famine.
“Severe and moderate acute malnutrition among children has
significantly increased in Ethiopia, Somalia, and South Sudan,” the
OCHA report read.
Received on Fri Oct 23 2015 - 21:33:08 EDT