KENYA: Millions of people face starvation in the Horn of Africa where droughts have taken several countries to the brink of famine, the UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation warned yesterday.
Despite improved overall cereal harvests in some countries of the Horn of Africa in 2005, recent severe droughts coupled with the effects of past and ongoing conflicts have put millions of people on the brink of starvation, says the report issued by the organisation's Rome office, which uses surprisingly stark language for the UN.
Food shortages are particularly grave in Somalia where about two million people need humanitarian assistance. The situation is most severe in the south of the war-torn country where autumn rains failed to materialise. Harvests are forecast to be the lowest for a decade.
Also affected are Djibouti, where a fifth of the population is running out of food, and the south and east of Ethiopia, where people and livestock are already on the move in search of help.
International aid agencies in Kenya have stepped up their appeals for urgent help in the drought-hit north of the country.
The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, Action Against Hunger and World Vision said 2.5 million people needed aid to avoid a famine before fresh rains expected in April.
Local officials report livestock losses of up to 30 per cent in northern parts of the country - disastrous for the mainly pastoral communities in the region - and at least 40 people are believed to have died from malnutrition or related illnesses.
"Communities may soon be wiped out since they depend entirely on livestock," the Red Cross said, launching its own appeal for funding.
"Given the dramatic situation, it is vital that the international community respond by supporting the government of Kenya's appeal for food assistance."
For his part, Mwai Kibaki, president of Kenya, has declared a national disaster and asked for $150 million from donors.
His spokesman, Alfred Mutua, said the situation was dire for the largely pastoral population and promised that the government would not shirk its responsibility.
"We believe that people are suffering and people might have died as a result of hunger, we cannot be in denial and say that people are not dying," he said in the capital, Nairobi.
But there appears to be little respite in sight.
The country's director of meteorological services, Joseph Mukabana, yesterday warned that long-range forecasts suggested poor rains for the rest of the year.