As Crops Fail And Prices Rise Six Million Ethiopian Children Begin To Starve
Six Million Ethiopian Children At Risk Of Malnutrition As Crops Fail And Prices Rise
by Xan Rice - GuardianUK
Up to 6 million children under the age of five are at risk of malnutrition in Ethiopia because of rising cereal prices and the failure of rains, the UN’s children agency, Unicef, has warned.
Dry spells across much of the country since last September have led to big food shortages, humanitarian agencies say. In recent weeks the effects have become visible, with increases in cases of kwashiorkor and severe acute malnutrition, particularly in southern Ethiopia, where 126,000 children require urgent therapeutic treatment.
John Holmes, the UN’s undersecretary general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief coordinator, said he was deeply concerned by Ethiopia’s food insecurity, the worst since the drought-related humanitarian crisis in 2003.
With crops expected to fail following a poor March to May rainy season, which in good years allows farmers to produce a second crop, the situation is expected to worsen.
“We will need a rapid scaling up of resources, especially food and nutritional supplies, to make increased life-saving aid a reality,” Holmes said.
Samuel Akale, a nutritionist with the government’s disaster prevention agency, warned that the situation would get worse. “The number of severely malnourished will increase, and then they’ll die,” he told Associated Press.
Ethiopia has made gains in reducing dependency on food relief, and has cut its infant mortality rate by a quarter over the past five years. But with poverty still widespread, and the country host to 80 million people, the second largest population in sub-Saharan Africa, it remains deeply susceptible to the weather’s vagaries.
The World Food Programme (WFP) says that besides the 8 million people supported by a long-term food safety net system, at least 3.4 million people are in need of emergency humanitarian aid. It appealed for an urgent response from donors, citing a 183,000 tonne food shortfall, which would cost $147m (nearly £75m) to bridge.
Unicef is asking for $50m, but there are concerns that the international focus on disasters in China and Burma will see the appeal fall short. An earlier request for $20m to fund its emergency nutrition programme raised $1m.
The worst hit areas are the Southern Nations, Nationalities and People’s Region, the Somalia region, and Oromiya, where the number of severely malnourished children admitted to one Unicef-supported hospital increased from 26 to 61 over the past week. Livestock losses are also growing.
There is also increasing concern about the northern regions of Afar, Amhara and Tigray, where crop failure is expected following disappointing rains.
Rising global costs of fuel, fertiliser and staple foods are compounding the problem, especially for the poorest Ethiopians. In the six months to February, the price of maize and sorghum nearly doubled, according to the WFP, while wheat jumped by 54%.
“The food supply in markets is limited, and many people cannot afford to buy what is needed for their families,” said Peter Smerdon, a WFP spokesman. “They are having to resort to extreme survival strategies.”
Nearby countries are experiencing similar difficulties in coping with drought. About 600,000 people in Uganda’s eastern Karamoja region are receiving food aid, while more than 2 million Somalis, many of them displaced by war, are reliant on humanitarian relief.
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Send in Delta and the Rangers to insure that people are being fed. Oh wait, never mind.
May 23rd, 2008 at 8:48 pmSomalia got what they wanted: Rule by jihadis. The hell with them.
Ethiopia is another story. They’re helping to chase AQ in Somalia. That makes them an ally.
Unfortunately, they are at the mercy of the weather. When hard times come, they’re ill-prepared.
May 23rd, 2008 at 9:42 pmThis is phenomenally sad.
According to the Holy Algore these kids are supposed to die MUCH later from being too hot.
And here we are burning corn in our corn guzzling SUVs.
May 23rd, 2008 at 9:48 pm$150million isnt that much really. im sure the coalition countries could come up with it pretty easy.
May 24th, 2008 at 6:01 amand send agricultural experts to assess the situation and try make it better.
May 24th, 2008 at 6:06 amUnicef is asking for $50m? Its election year in the US and UNICEF needs the money to run anti-gun ads.
May 24th, 2008 at 6:15 amThe U.N. should be kicked into yesterday, the hypocritical bastards. They dictate international policy in the form of the Kyoto Protocol (global warming) that puts junk science in front of human beings. High rising fuel prices due to ridiculous policy just makes us mad, but it means the difference between life and death for many third world countries. I notice the GuardianUK gives this a “barely mentioned” at the end of their story
May 24th, 2008 at 6:42 am