Community | October 04, 2009 | 18 comments

Catastrophic Drought looms in East Africa

source: http://www.economist.com/world/middleeast-africa/displaystory.cfm?story_id=14506436&fsrc=rss

Image
jeffissleeping
This year’s drought is the worst in east Africa since 2000, and possibly since 1991.

Famine stalks the land. The failure of rains in parts of Ethiopia may increase the number needing food handouts by 5m, in addition to the 8m already getting them, in a population of 80m. The production of Kenyan maize, the country’s staple, is likely to drop by one-third, hitting poor farmers’ families hardest.

The International Committee of the Red Cross says famine in Somalia is going to be worse than ever. Handouts are urgently needed by roughly 3.6m Somalis, nearly half the resident population (several million having already emigrated during years of strife). In fractious northern Uganda cereal output is likely to fall by half. Parts of South Sudan, Eritrea, the Central African Republic and Tanzania are suffering too. Rich countries are being less generous than usual. The UN’s World Food Programme says it has only $24m of the $300m it needs just to feed hungry Kenyans for the next six months.


For more info on the drought in E. Africa, check out:


http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUSTRE58S1F520090929

http://www.enn.com/wildlife/article/40550

http://www.economist.com/world/middleeast-africa/displaystory.cfm?story_id=14506...
  1. groups:
    Community,   Green,   Current Tonight,   Webmash,   3 more
  2. tags:
    Green,  Current TV,  Climate Change,  Global Warming,  3 more
  3. recommended by:
    Vierotchka
  4.     
    |

18 comments // Catastrophic Drought looms in East Africa

  • csmonut
    • 0
      csmonut  

    • Drought, famine, war and corrupt leaders all contribute to the problems.
      All of the money and all of the food will make little difference unless/until a stable government is in place.
      Too bad the US and other developed countries feel it is more worthwhile to wage war than it is to put troops where they are really needed.
      OOPS! I forgot...there are no excess riches to be had.

    • 2 years ago
  • 4and3and2and1
    • 0
      4and3and2and1  

    • South coast I've served the people of Kenyan and can attest that they are amazing and suffering. If natural selection was truly in play here you would not be around to comment on this article. Enjoy your ignorance!

    • 2 years ago
  • maof4brats
  • msltj20
  • ras_menelik
    • 0
      ras_menelik  

    • 4 times in 35 years

      irony each time the world has feed the people the " leaders" had some kind of war to kill as many of them as was saved.

      Now it's more of the same!!!!

    • 2 years ago
  • RFIDemocracy
    • 0
      RFIDemocracy  
    • Image

    • This could prove to be have broader implications over the next few years, according to the UN.

      BUENOS AIRES — Drought could parch close to 70 percent of the planet's soil by 2025 unless countries implement policies to slow desertification, a senior United Nations official has warned.

      "If we cannot find a solution to this problem... in 2025, close to 70 percent could be affected," Luc Gnacadja, executive secretary of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, said Friday.

      Drought currently affects at least 41 percent of the planet and environmental degradation has caused it to spike by 15 to 25 percent since 1990, according to a global climate report.

      "There will not be global security without food security" in dry regions, Gnacadja said at the start of the ninth UN conference on the convention in the Argentine capital.

      "A green deal is necessary" for developing countries working to combat drought, he stressed.

    • 2 years ago
  • msltj20
    • 0
      msltj20  
    • RFIDemocracy:

      where did you get that picture and why? That looks like a very healthy ecosystem, just because the ground is cracked does not mean damaging drought. the earth naturally and normally does that...

    • 2 years ago
  • RFIDemocracy
  • JanforGore
  • stolenapples
  • mik661
    • 0
      mik661  
    • JanforGore:

      So Jan is it your contention that we should support countries that are grossly overpopulated considering the available resources? Are you ready to take a few million refugees into your home state and feed/cloth them forever and all the children they can produce? I have heard variations of the comment you find disgusting being supported by long time particapants in African Aid programs. First off not all the focused power of the west would likely be able to force political stability in East Africa and the sub Sahara. Without stable government you can pour enough aid into these countries to really make dent. All you are doing is supporting the tyrants who are partially responsible for the debacle. Furthermore all the green technology in the world is going to grow the amount of food needed to support the massive populations.

    • 2 years ago
  • Vierotchka
  • s0uthc0ast
    • 0
      s0uthc0ast  

    • Oh well.
      The amount spent by Americans and sent to African leaders over the decades only to be wasted on frivolous excess and corruption is a large part of this problem on this dysfunctional continent. No amount of money will fix this obvious problem.
      This is not going to be a matter of money but rather the acceptance of responsibility by the people affected by this circumstance. A circumstance which to endlessly repeat itself on this continent.

      Or maybe this is just natural selection at work.

    • 2 years ago
  • IronLionZion
    • 0
      IronLionZion  
    • s0uthc0ast:

      I think your comment on natural selection was in bad taste, but your comment on african leaders is spot on, they need to be held responsible for the aide that is given, and the whole mindset of fear needs to change, like when Ayaan Hirsi Ali first made it to Germany from Somalia, she couldnt understand why a police officer was helping her, because back home all they did was instill fear.

    • 2 years ago
  • JanforGore
  • Vierotchka
    • 0
      Vierotchka  
    • JanforGore:

      This reminds me of what I saw during my first visit to Kenya - sun-bleached skeletons of cattle and other animals scattered all over as far as the eye could see. Kenya had just undergone a severe drought - that was in the early eighties.

    • 2 years ago
  • TheTrueReligion_Tolerance
more from Community:
from the community

top videos