Famine in Somalia and the Horn of Africa, 2011
Acute malnutrition and starvation continue to claim tens of thousands of lives in the Horn of Africa. More than 13 million people are currently in desperate need. The UN has officially used the word “famine” to describe the situation. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has said it is the “most severe food security emergency in the world today”.
Africa Renewal takes an in-depth look at the history of the crisis in the region and beyond, and brings you the latest news and updates here.
Horn of Africa: tackling the evils of famine
Images of starving Somalis have shaken the conscience of the world: stomachs flattened by hunger, sagging flesh and noses dripping in mucus, fed on by opportunistic toilet flies. And death is lurking. This is the picture of many of the living in Somalia, who look to humanity for help...
Global food crisis: time to break the vicious cycle
Once every few years or so, the world goes through a familiar ritual: various factors converge to trigger unusual increases in global food prices. In response, countries rush through emergency measures to ward off widespread shortages or worse. Prices stabilize, calm returns and the world declares yet another victory in the war against rising food prices. The crisis vanishes from the radar - until the next one. No wonder few are surprised that for the second time in three years, another crisis is upon us...
Ban Ki-moon: Famine in Somalia
Across the Horn of Africa, people are starving. A catastrophic combination of conflict, high food prices and drought has left more than 11 million people in desperate need. The United Nations has been sounding the alert for months. We have resisted using the "f-word" - famine - but on Wednesday we officially recognized the fast-evolving reality. There is famine in parts of Somalia. And it is spreading...
Sahel: surviving the lean season
In Africa's Sahel region, even in years of adequate rainfall food insecurity is usually high. Now, as the region enters the precarious "lean season" (the period between harvests that lasts from May to August), the problem is expected to get worse...
Combating Zambia’s ‘hidden hunger’
The majority of children in Zambia eat a meal at least once or twice daily. But despite a full stomach, many lack nutrients essential for their physical and mental development. The Zambian government is fighting this "hidden hunger" by fortifying maize meal, the staple food, with life-saving vitamins and minerals...
Fixing the humanitarian aid system
International food relief often arrives too late - after the hungry have begun to die in large numbers. Is there something wrong with the way the world responds to famines, earthquakes and floods? Ask Josephine Kachebe. The 83-year-old grandmother from Tiki Mwiinga community in southern Zambia is among 12 million Southern Africans in desperate need of emergency food aid, according to estimates of the World Food Programme (WFP)...
Niger: a famine foretold
The seasonal rains returned to southern Niger in June, coaxing the green millet stalks from the dry earth and signalling an end, hopefully, to a food shortage that has left some 2.4 million Nigeriens - including 800,000 children - vulnerable to malnutrition. International relief workers have also started to arrive to distribute the emergency rations needed until the harvest is in...
World hunger can be reduced, says FAO
A group of 30 countries, 13 of them African, managed to reduce the percentage of hungry people among their populations by at least 25 per cent during the 1990s, providing proof that progress can be made in that area, reports the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). In its State of Food Insecurity in the World 2004, the FAO reports that even though current efforts to reduce hunger are not on track to meet the international goal of halving the number of hungry people by 2015, there is evidence that the goal is attainable...
Africa beyond famine
To many around the world, the image of famine in Africa is closely linked to drought and, in some countries, war. But even when there is no drought or other acute crisis, about 200 million Africans suffer from chronic hunger, UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Director-General Jacques Diouf noted during a recent visit to Senegal. The reasons are multiple: low farm productivity, grinding poverty, the ravages of HIV/AIDS and unstable domestic and international agricultural markets...
Famine spreads across Africa
On a scale not seen in Africa in nearly two decades, famine is once again stalking the continent. According to estimates by the UN's World Food Programme (WFP), as many as 38 million Africans are living under the threat of starvation, and many will succumb if emergency relief does not reach them in time...
Millions threatened with starvation
In 2002 a two-year drought, coming on top of widespread poverty, production disruptions and depleted food reserves, plunged Southern Africa into its most serious food emergency in at least a decade. Nearly 16 million people in seven countries were at risk of starvation...