Famine threatens 11m in East Africa after two-year
drought
08 Mar 2006 10:59:00 GMT
As she stood on the edge of the bone-dry dirt track, the elderly
woman held her hand out in a desperate plea for water.
She had risked her life by venturing out at night onto a
bandit-prone road in Somalia's drought-stricken Geddo region, her
only hope being that a passing truck might stop.
A malnourished boy sits with his mother at a hospital in Kenya
Luckily, the vehicle she flagged down did not belong to robbers or
warlords but to workers from Christian Aid. She received enough
water to last her family a few days, but with none to be found
anywhere else, she will be back at the roadside soon.
After the worst drought in 20 years, 11 million people across East
Africa face starvation and a daily battle to find water. Throughout
a wide swathe of Somalia, Ethiopia, northern Kenya, Tanzania and
Uganda, the failure of rains for two years has turned watering
holes and wells into dry hollows. Up to 80 per cent of cattle herds
have been wiped out and even hardy goats and camels are dropping
dead too.
There are reports of people dying of thirst and those who are still
alive have been driven to desperate measures such as drinking their
own urine. Aid agencies warn that without immediate help,
widespread famine is just around the corner.
In Somalia, the problem is made even worse by the dire security
situation. With no central government for 14 years, the country has
degenerated into lawlessness, making it all but impossible for aid
agencies to deliver the relief that at least 1.4 million people
need.
The Geddo region is among the wildest. Roadblocks manned by young
militiamen, who demand a "tax" to pass, are a daily and deadly
hazard for locals and the few charities willing to risk working
here. Charitable status means nothing - the only way to get past is
to talk the language of money. Last week, a trader who refused to
pay at a checkpoint was shot dead.
Many people face a stark choice between selling their last few
animals or starving. Sahra Moalin Ahmed, a mother of four from
Bakal village, said: "My cattle died months ago and I have three
goats left. If I sell my goats I can buy food to last another 15
days. After that I will have nothing. I will only be able to pray
to God to help me."
At Garbaharre hospital, all 50 patients, mainly children and the
elderly, are suffering from malnutrition. "Those that are here are
the ones who could walk. Most people are too weak to make such a
journey," said the hospital manager, Dr Shaffi Ugas. "One patient
is a 22-year-old man but he looks like a 12-year-old because he has
not eaten in so long."
Christian Aid is working through Norwegian Church Aid (NCA), one of
only two international agencies operating in the area. To protect
aid workers, most operations are carried out by Somalis. But
nothing can be done without the consent of warlords who can
guarantee the safe passage of aid, usually for a fee. Or they can
block it.
NCA is distributing food on behalf of the World Food Programme and
providing clean water for 30,000 people. It is also building and
repairing bore wells and helping farmers.
Christian Aid has given NCA £40,000 and is spending a further
£200,000 across the region, but the money will soon run out. That
is why this weekend it is launching an appeal for its emergency
response in East Africa.
Arfi Abdi D'Ar, a cattle farmer from Bakal, spells it out. "If help
doesn't come it will be very dangerous. If it doesn't come we
expect to die."
Dominic Nutt is an emergencies specialist with Christian Aid. To
donate to Christian Aid's East Africa emergency appeal go to
www.christian-aid.org.uk/eastafrica/ index.htm or call 08080 004
004.