Oxfam warns 23 million facing severe hunger in eastern Africa

LONDON – More than 23 million people face severe hunger and destitution across east Africa in the worst crisis there for a decade, aid agency Oxfam warned yesterday as it launched a new 9.5- million-pound appeal.

A severe five-year drought across seven countries in the region, exacerbated by high food prices and violent conflict, had created the worst humanitarian crisis in east Africa for a decade, Oxfam said.

It hopes the appeal fund – worth 15.2 million dollars, 10.4 million euros – will help it provide clean water, food and other aid for more than 750 000 people across Kenya, Ethiopia, Somalia, Uganda, Sudan, Djibouti and Tanzania.

“This is the worst humanitarian crisis Oxfam has seen in East Africa for over 10 years,” said regional director Paul Smith Lomas.

“Failed and unpredictable rains are ever more regular across East Africa as raining seasons shorten due to the growing influence of climate change. Droughts have increased from once a decade to every two or three years.”

He added: “The conditions have never been so harsh or so inhospitable, and people desperately need our help to survive.”

Malnutrition is now above emergency levels in some areas, Oxfam said, while hundreds of thousands of cattle are dying, removing people’s key income source.

In Wajir in northern Kenya, almost 200 dead animals were recently found around one dried-up water source.

The lack of water has led to tensions between desperate groups of herders searching for food and water, with 65 people killed in Turkana, northern Kenya, since June, Oxfam said.

It said 3.8 million Kenyans – a tenth of the population – require emergency aid following its worst drought for a decade and spiralling food prices to 180 percent above the average.

Meanwhile, 13.7 million people are at risk of severe hunger in Ethiopia, two million desperately need aid in Uganda, and war-torn Somalia is facing the worst humanitarian situation it has seen since 1991, with 3.8 million affected.