Agencies
sound the alarm over ‘climate crisis’ after devastation of crops and livestock
More
than 2 million people could face starvation by the end of the summer, unless
there are urgent efforts to respond to the drought in Somalia.
Mark
Lowcock, the UN’s humanitarian chief, said the country is facing one of the
driest rainy seasons in more than three decades, and a “rapidly deteriorating
humanitarian situation”.
By
September, 2.2 million people will face hunger so severe that it threatens
their lives or livelihoods. A further 3.2 million people – around one-fifth of
Somalia’s population – will be uncertain of their next meal.
“If
there isn’t a rapid response, there’s going to be a big problem,” said Lowcock.
Last
week, the UN warned that, rather than ramping up work, agencies had been forced
to cut back in some areas because the humanitarian appeal for Somalia was so
poorly funded.
The
crisis comes as communities struggle to recover from a two-year drought that
ended in 2017.
“We
were caught by surprise at just how quickly this drought has returned,” said
Nasra Ismail, director of the Somalia NGO Consortium. “The time for people to
recover has been halved and has been continuing to decrease every single
season,” she said. “Ultimately, it’s climate crisis.”
The
April to June period, initially forecast as an average rainy season, is now
thought to be one of the driest on record in more than 35 years.
The
failed rainy season was partly caused by cyclones in the southern Indian Ocean,
including Cyclone Idai in March, which stopped rains from moving north. This
has come on top of abnormally hot and dry conditions between January and March,
and a poor “deyr” season, between October and December last year.
While
there has been some rainfall in recent weeks, it is still well below what is
needed, leading to the devastation of crops and death of livestock.
Lowcock
said agencies faced a severe lack of funding, but that intervening early would
avert the worst human suffering and prove more cost-effective. The humanitarian
response plan, which sought $1.08bn (£848m) for the year, had received only a
fifth of this amount by the end of May. The appeal has since been replaced by a
drought response plan, for which $710m is being sought.
The
UN has allocated $45m to offer support in Somalia, as well as parts of Ethiopia
and Kenya. The majority of the funds, $30m, will go to Somalia.
As
the crisis escalates…
…
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