Affrican Development Bank awards US$1 million emergency relief assistance for drought victims in Somalia

A press release from the African Development Bank: The African Development Bank Group (AfDB) has awarded US $1 million emergency relief assistance to Somalia where over one million people affected by drought and famine are in dire need of humanitarian assistance.

The Emergency Humanitarian Relief Assistance to Victims of Drought in the country approved by the AfDB Board of Directors on Monday, February 9, 2015 will support the efforts being made by the Federal Government of Somalia in conjunction with the United Nations to provide urgent food aid distributions and food deliveries to drought-affected families in several parts of the country.

The grant has been mobilised from the Bank’s Special Relief Fund (SRF) and will be used to purchase food items, finance costs of transportation and distribution of food rations to the beneficiaries as well as administrative charges.

The assistance will be channeled through targeted food distribution to households affected by the drought, mainly vulnerable groups (like widows, orphans, female- and elderly-headed households) without alternative means of survival. Due to the imminent shortfalls, local and regional purchases, which have the added benefit of supporting the national and regional agricultural economies, will be made.

...According to United Nations statistics, some 9 to 10 million people in the Horn of Africa are in need of humanitarian assistance as a result of a severe drought, whose effects have been worsened by poor rains, conflict, trade disruptions and reduced humanitarian assistance in Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia and Djibouti. Continued deterioration as a result of severe droughts in 2010 and 2011, coupled with poor humanitarian access and inadequate humanitarian assistance, culminated in the declaration of famine in southern Somalia in 2011, with more than 250,000 people, mainly women and children dying from hunger and decease....

A goatherd in Somalia, shot by Oxfam-East Africa Oxfam East Africa, Wikimedia Commons via Flickr, under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license

Shift in Arabian Sea plankton may threaten fisheries

A press release from the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory (part of the Earth Institute at Columbia University): A growing “dead zone” in the middle of the Arabian Sea has allowed plankton uniquely suited to low- oxygen water to take over the base of the food chain. Their rise to dominance over the last decade could be disastrous for the predator fish that sustain 120 million people living on the sea’s edge.

Scientists at Columbia University’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory and their colleagues are the first to document the rapid rise of green Noctiluca scintillans, an unusual dinoflagellate that eats other plankton and draws energy from the sun via microscopic algae living within its cells. Noctiluca’s thick blooms color the Arabian Sea an emerald green each winter, from the shores of Oman on the west, to India and Pakistan on the east.

In a study published this week in Nature Communications, the researchers show how the millions of green algae living within Noctiluca’s cells allow it to exploit an oxygen-starved dead zone the size of Texas. They hypothesize that a tide of nutrient-rich sewage flowing from booming cities on the Arabian Sea is expanding the dead zone and feeding Noctiluca’s growth.
           
“These blooms are massive, appear year after year, and could be devastating to the Arabian Sea ecosystem over the long-term,” said the study’s lead author, Helga do Rosario Gomes, a biogeochemist at Lamont-Doherty....

A NASA image of a phytoplankton bloom in the Arabian Sea

Food security alarm for east, central Africa

IRIN: Some 20 million people are facing acute food insecurity in eastern and central Africa, with most of them being at “crisis” and “emergency” levels, according to aid agencies. This figure compares unfavorably with 15.8 million people in July 2013.  The affected countries include Somalia, Uganda, South Sudan, Ethiopia, Central Africa Republic (CAR), Sudan, Kenya, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Tanzania.

“The overall nutrition situation in the region has deteriorated precipitously and, according to survey results, the Global Acute Malnutrition (GAM) levels are higher than 20 percent, exceeding the World Health Organization’s emergency threshold of 15 percent, especially in parts of South Sudan, CAR, Somalia and northern Kenya,” said the East and Central Africa Food Security and Nutrition Working Group (FSNWG), a multi-stakeholder regional forum chaired by the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

FSNWG warned that the situation could deteriorate further in the absence of quick action.  “FSNWG strongly believes that in the absence of an increased and immediate multi-sectoral response, the food and nutrition status of affected populations is likely to deteriorate further.”...

Kenya food aid, image by USAID

Drought set to worsen Somalia food crisis

AllAfrica.com via Dalsan Radio (Mogadishu): "The latest assessments from the Food and Agricultural Organization warn that the food crisis in Somalia will deteriorate in the coming months, with drought conditions already observed in parts of the country due to a poor rainy season. Rainfall was recorded at less than 50 per cent of normal levels during the March to June Gu rains.

Today we face a stark reality. The elements that could tip Somalia into an acute crisis now stand before us - drought, continued conflict, restricted flow of commercial goods, increasing malnutrition and surging food prices.

Two months ago I warned that Somalia's fragile food security situation was likely to worsen in the coming months. This is now reality. In the coming months, for the first time since the 2011 famine, we will see the number of people in food security crisis and emergency go up again. We cannot let these food security warnings fall on deaf ears. I call on the donor community to make resources available immediately so that relief organizations can take action without delay. We can save lives today if we act now.

Despite the dire humanitarian situation that is unfolding, the Consolidated Appeal for Somalia is woefully underfunded at 25 per cent. A gap of about US$700 million is still required to provide humanitarian assistance until the end of 2014, to 2.9 million people who are struggling to feed themselves....

Voice of America photo by P. Heinlein of Somali refugee camp in Ethiopia

Late rains give rise to concerns about harvest prospects, food security in Somalia

UN News Centre: The United Nations today voiced increasing concern over the food security situation in Somalia, as food stocks from the previous harvest become depleted and prices continue to rise sharply, and the country experiences late rains and erratic weather patterns.

The situation is being exacerbated by conflict and inadequate funding for priority actions designed to address the needs of hard-hit communities, according to a new report by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

“The people of Somalia cannot afford to wait to see how the next harvest turns out. They need urgent support to improve their food security and maintain their livelihoods, most of which depend directly on agriculture,” said Luca Alinovi, acting Head of FAO’s Somalia Office and FAO Representative in Kenya.

FAO and its partners are urgently seeking $18 million to scale up rapid interventions to prevent and mitigate the further deterioration of the food security situation, the agency said in a news release.

A “weak” January harvest coupled with a delayed start to the 2014 gu season (April-June) have fuelled concerns for the food security situation. FAO noted that harvests were “well below average” in the central and southern areas of the country, following weeks of late and erratic rainfall, as well as flooding around rivers....

A farm in Somalia, US Department of Defense photo

Somalia at “risk of relapse”

IRIN: Three years after a famine claimed 260,000 lives in Somalia, 2.9 million people there are still affected by a multifaceted but desperately underfunded humanitarian crisis, and communities are just “one shock away from disaster”, a host of aid agencies have warned in a joint campaign entitled “Risk of relapse.”

“With a third of the population in need of aid, Somalia is clearly in severe crisis,” according to a statement signed by 22 NGOs*. Just 12 percent of Somalia’s humanitarian funding requirements for the year have been met, and there is a shortfall of US$822 million.  The organizations also launched a social media campaign, saying “we can’t fail them again.”

World Vision noted that rains have failed across most of Somalia, and the recent upsurge in the military offensive by AMISOM has led to greater displacement in the south.

“What we have is an early warning that has ingredients of a perfect storm. We urge donors and stakeholders to take immediate action to avert disaster,” said Andrew Lanyon, Chief of Party for the Somalia Resilience Programme (SomReP), an organization that World Vision is a member of, during a media briefing in Nairobi....

Refugees eagerly await the installation of a new water tank. Fleeing famine in south central Somalia, they have arrived in a part of northeast Kenya that has suffered the driest year in six decades. Clean water is in short supply. Photo: Jo Harrison/Oxfam, Oxfam East Africa, Wikimedia Commons via Flickr, under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license 

War, late rains spark Somalia 'crisis' warning

Africa Daily via AFP: War and delayed rains in Somalia are putting thousands of lives at risk, especially in areas where African Union troops are battling Islamist extremists for control, the United Nations said Friday. Seasonal rains crucial for farming and usually lasting from April to June are yet to start in key southern areas of Somalia, as well as in far northeast
ern regions.

If rains fail this month, "combined with sustained insecurity, we might see new levels of crisis unfold," said Daniel Molla, chief technical advisor from the UN's Food Security and Nutrition Analysis Unit (FSNAU).

"Delayed rains, rising food prices and persistent insecurity in Somalia is likely to worsen the country's food security situation in the coming months," FSNAU added in a statement, with more than 850,000 people requiring "urgent humanitarian assistance".

The southern regions of Middle and Lower Shabelle are the worst affected, frontline battle zones where African Union troops fighting alongside Somali government forces are battling Al-Qaeda linked Shebab insurgents.

Over 200,000 children aged under five are "acutely malnourished", with more than a quarter of those assessed as severe cases who "face a higher risk of death", FSNAU added. Somalia was the hardest hit by extreme drought in 2011 that affected over 13 million people across the Horn of Africa, with famine zones declared in large parts of the war-ravaged south....

Somali refugees in 20011, shot by Oxfam Horn of Africa famine refugee.jpg: Oxfam East Africa, Wikimedia Commons, under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license

Floods displace thousands, destroy farms in Somalia

IRIN: Thousands of people have been left homeless following continued flooding in parts of Somalia’s Middle Shabelle region over the past couple of months, with large tracts of farmland being inundated, raising fears of livelihood losses.

The Shabelle River floods started in late August in and around the Middle Shabelle town of Jowhar, according to an update by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), due to rains in the Ethiopian highlands. Subsequent flooding has since left an estimated 11,000 households - about 66,000 people, spread over 33 villages - affected by localized flooding in Middle Shabelle’s Jowhar District, according to a 4 December OCHA update.

Some 8,000 hectares of land have also been inundated in the districts of Balcad and Jowhar....The Middle Shabelle region, through which the permanent River Shabelle runs, is part of Somalia’s bread basket.  The flood waters have also cut off road access in some parts.

“Residents have to use small makeshift boats for 6km, then they are dropped in waist-deep water, from where they wade for about the same distance to reach a temporary bus stop outside the city,” Abdikarin Alos, a local journalist, told IRIN.

There are also concerns over the outbreak of diseases. Jowhar resident Abdullahi Hassan told IRIN that malaria has been a major problem due to the floods, with cases of diarrhoea reported amid fears of malnutrition. “There is a need to prevent the situation from developing into a major crisis,” he said...

Thousands of Somalis struggle in aftermath of devastating cyclone

AllAfrica.com via Sabahi: More than 100,000 people are struggling in Somalia's cyclone-hit north-eastern Puntland region, aid agencies warned Friday (November 29th), saying floodwaters had wiped out the livestock two-thirds of the people survive on, AFP reported.

A joint statement by 12 agencies -- including Somali organisations as well as international ones such as CARE International, Oxfam, Save the Children, Refugees International and World Vision -- said that people are "in dire need of food, clean drinking water and shelter".

"For the pastoralist communities, the loss of their livestock could lead to an even greater number of people dying," said Degan Ali, from Somali agency Adeso. "Livestock is the basis of the local economy and their only means of survival."...

Inductiveload created this map of Somalia and released it into the public domain

Somalia: Puntland says the federal government did not help the people affected by Cyclone 3A

AllAfrica.com via Dalsan Radio (Mogadishu): The minister for planning and international relation of the Somalia's semi-autonomous state of Puntland Mohamud Aydid Dirir has said they have got no aid from the Federal Government of Somalia.

The Federal Government of Somalia has already pledged one million dollars to help the people in Bari and Nugal regions where the Cyclone 3A seriously hit early in November.

"We have not got anything from the federal government." Mr Dirir told the BBC Somali Service. "That was a pledge on the mouth. Not real one." he added.

The minister blamed the Mogadishu government for not taking its responsibility to help its citizens affected by the national disaster....

Locator map of Puntland, created by Reqrezentin, Wikimedia Commons, under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license

Somalia's 6,000 cyclone victims in receive food aid

AllAfrica.com via Sabahi: At least 6,000 people affected by the tropical cyclone in Somalia's Puntland region have received one-month food rations, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said Sunday (November 17th).

"A lot of people in these areas are in dire need," said Patrick Vial, the head of the ICRC delegation to Somalia. "Reports reaching our staff in the field speak of dozens of dead and the loss of significant numbers of livestock."

The cyclone has left as many as 300 people dead. The rains have also flooded parts of Middle Shabelle, especially Jowhar, and Somaliland.

The ICRC estimates that 10,000 people have been forced from their homes due to the harsh weather conditions, which have contaminated many drinking water wells and destroyed the possibility of a harvest for many farmers. Aid for about 26,000 people has been sent to the area and will be distributed in coming days. "The long-term effect of this cyclone is also likely to be severe," Vial said...

Storm death toll rises to 140 in Somalia's Puntland

Reuters: The death toll from a tropical cyclone that hit Somalia's semi-autonomous Puntland region at the weekend has risen to 140 but the final figure could total 300, the government said on Wednesday. The government has declared a state of emergency and appealed for international aid to help the tiny Horn of Africa region, which is rich in energy resources and is being sized up by oil explorers.

Weather experts at the United Nation's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said the cyclone, which made landfall on Saturday, was characterized by unusually heavy storms. Latest rainfall data shows the cyclone has subsided after flooding the coastal town of Eyl, Dangaroyo and the Puntland capital Garowe, though heavy rains are still expected inland.

"So far we have confirmed the storm killed 140 people. We are afraid the death toll may reach 300 because many people are still missing. Roads have been cut and the only access to those areas is by air," Abdullahi Ahmed, Puntland's interior minister, told Reuters late on Tuesday. The government said it needed clean water, non-perishable foods, medicines, shelter materials and blankets....

Locator map of Puntland, in Somalia, posted by Roo72, Wikimedia Commons, under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license

UN declares Somali famine over for now

Katy Migiro in AlertNet: An exceptional harvest after good rains and food deliveries by aid agencies have ended famine in Somalia for now but food stocks could run out again in May, the United Nations said on Friday. The famine, which was declared in July, killed tens of thousands in south and central Somalia, much of which is controlled by Islamist militants. More than 2.3 million Somalis, almost a third of the population, are still in need of aid.

"....famine conditions are no longer present," said a statement from the office of Mark Bowden, the U.N. Humanitarian Coordinator for Somalia. Millions of people still need food, clean water, shelter and other assistance to survive and the situation is expected to deteriorate in May," the statement cited Bowden as saying.

Al Shabaab said there was no hunger crisis in parts of the anarchic country it governed and accused aid agencies of misleading the population. While aid deliveries to some 180,000 people in camps in the capital Mogadishu have improved the situation there, fighting in southern and central Somalia is still hampering aid deliveries to the worst-hit areas.

Government forces have been fighting Islamist rebels for the past five years, while Kenyan and Ethiopian forces both moved into the country last year to help fight the al Qaeda-linked militants al Shabaab. The fighting, combined with attacks on aid workers and a history of aid being manipulated for political gain, means Somalia is one of the toughest countries for relief agencies to operate in....

The 2011 drought in East Africa

IRIN: Severe drought, exacerbated by poverty and conflict, hit at least four countries in 2011 - Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia - displacing hundreds of thousands of people. Thousands in Somalia and Ethiopia began the year by making the dangerous journey to Yemen. Others from these two countries headed for South Africa where they faced arrest, deportation and detention.

Among other innovations, the humanitarian response in drought-affected countries across the Horn saw an escalation in the use of cash transfers. As the magnitude of the drought crisis gained international attention, familiar laments emerged about the failure to heed warnings issued months earlier and learn from previous famines by building resilience to inevitable weather shocks.

...The drought was especially hard in Somalia, with the UN declaring a famine in some regions of south-central Somalia. Drought and insecurity forced hundreds of thousands to flee to neighbouring Kenya, swelling the number of people in the congested Dadaab refugee complex, which for many residents, has been “home” for most of their lives.

Meanwhile, relief efforts inside Somalia were thrown into jeopardy by the banning of several agencies by the Al-Shabab insurgency as well as by frequent looting at distribution centres and also Kenya’s military intervention, aimed at neutralizing the insurgents. US anti-terror legislation has also placed hurdles in the way of aid agencies...

Floods cause havoc among Somali displaced

Lisa Schlein in Voice of America: The UN refugee agency reports heavy rains and flooding in parts of Somalia, Kenya and Ethiopia are causing havoc among thousands of displaced Somalis in the region. The UNHCR says flood-damaged roads are hampering relief efforts to thousands affected by the heavy rains.

More than 12 million people in the Horn of Africa are facing hunger and famine due to the worst drought to hit the region in 60 years.

The heavy rains in parts of the region are bringing some welcome relief to drought-hit areas. At the same time, they are creating a disaster of another sort. For instance, in Somalia’s capital Mogadishu, the UN refugee agency reports the rains have flooded the shelters of nearly 3,000 people in a camp for displaced people. It says heavy downpours also have disrupted the transport system and slowed the pace of people fleeing their homes.

Nevertheless, UNHCR spokesman, Andrej Mahecic, says some people continue to leave. “In the last week, more than 2,200 people have moved from Afgooye corridor and Daynile north of Mogadishu, to areas south of the capital in Banadir district," said Mahecic. "Some say they fled due to general insecurity, while others were trying to return to their home areas in anticipation of deteriorating security.” ...

A Somali refugee camp in Eritrea, west of Massawa, in January 2011, shot by Reinhard Dietrich, Wikimedia Commons, under the Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication

Famine in Somalia is Africa's wake-up call

AllAfrica.com via the Herald (Zimbabwe): Climate change and global warming do not provide favours for poor people, especially the rural folk. They pile misery on agricultural productivity and increase the frequency and severity of droughts that jeorpadise food production and security. The effects of climate change on agriculture are painful.

Today, average temperature and changing rainfall patterns in Zimbabwe increase the threat of hunger. Although we cannot adequately reverse the effects of nature, there is something we can do to address food security and impact of climate change on agriculture.

Innovative small-scale farming practices, particularly conservation agriculture can be useful for households and communities in adapting to climate change and global warming. Conservation agriculture encompasses sustainable use of natural resources through an integrated management of available soil, water and biological resources.

It aims to conserve, improve and make more efficient the use of natural resources in crop production at the same time contributing to environmental conservation. Capacitating households and the promotion of better farming methods are crucial for improving sustainable food production, optimal land use and increased water resource management....

Horn of Africa seeks drought resilience strategy

Dejene Sojato in Walta.info (Ethiopia): The Horn of Africa countries are facing the worst drought in half a century. UN estimates that 12.4 million people are in urgent need of emergency assistance. Following the below-normal 2011 spring rains in the eastern Horn of Africa, food security among pastoralists and populations in marginal farming areas sharply deteriorated. The situation has reached famine conditions in several parts of Somalia and refugee flows have grown sharply into Ethiopia, Kenya and Djibouti because of the drought._Moreover, Somalia presents an array of political and security challenges.

In response to the unprecedented humanitarian crisis that hit the Horn of Africa, recently, leaders of Eastern Africa and the African Union, UN representatives, development partners and international agencies held a 'Summit on the Horn of Africa Crisis' in Nairobi. The Summit discussed and adopted a strategy to mitigate the effect of drought. It notes current crisis is a reminder that the Horn of Africa is more vulnerable to Climate Change than most other regions in the world. While droughts may be an unavoidable natural phenomenon, the Summit notes but their impact can be mitigated by human action.

The Summit highlights the importance of introducing a new twin track approach to drought risk management. The new approach and focus should be preventive rather than reactive and should be holistic, rather than emergency oriented. It should encompass the continuum of relief, recovery, reconstruction, innovation and long-term development towards sustainable development to ensure drought resilience and ensuring food security. In this regard, farmers should be encouraged and supported to increase their productivity and overall production by promoting availability of inputs, extension services, dependable markets, competitive prices and good infrastructure....

Orthographic projection of the Horn of Africa by L'Américain, Wikimedia Commons, under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license

Security key to ending Somalia famine, say African leaders

Katy Migiro in AlertNet: Horn-of-Africa leaders on Friday rallied behind Somalia’s embattled government at a summit in Nairobi, supporting its efforts to oust Islamic militants from famine zones in the south of the war-torn country.

The presidents of Kenya, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Somalia and South Sudan met to discuss solutions to drought which has left 13 million people across the region hungry. Somalia is at the epicentre of the crisis, with famine declared in parts of the south in July.

“If there was full security, we are sure that the people in the famine areas would have been saved,” said Somali President Sharif Sheikh Ahmed. “But due to the fact that that areas are controlled by al Shabaab, which does not allow food aid through, it’s allowed these people to suffer,”

Al Shabaab rebels, allied to al Qaeda, have refused to allow the United Nations to deliver food relief into the areas they control. The U.N. said 750,000 people face imminent death from starvation. The U.N. said on Monday that the famine is likely to spread across all of southern Somalia by the end of the year….

UN declares sixth famine zone in Somalia

Mark Tran in the GlobalDevelopment blog in the Guardian (UK): The UN on Monday declared another region in Somalia to be in famine. Southern Somalia's Bay region is the latest region to be declared a famine zone, bringing to six the areas affected. Around 4 million Somalis – more than half of the population – are now in crisis in the drought-stricken country. The UN says 750,000 people are now at risk of death in the next four months if there is no adequate response, an increase from the July figure of 350,000.

Estimates of deaths in the region so far run into the tens of thousands, with the crisis affecting Somalia, Kenya, Ethiopia and Djibouti. More than 150,000 refugees have sought aid in the last few months. Somalia has been hit hardest, its problems compounded by civil war and the fact it has not had a functioning government since 1991.

Al-Shabaab Islamist insurgents deny that there is famine in areas under their control and have blocked major western aid agencies from providing urgent food supplies. Apart from a few charities, such as Islamic Relief and the Red Cross, most western agencies are banned by al-Shabaab, making it difficult for the UN's World Food Programme, to reach the most distressed areas. Most of the aid being distributed is going to Somalis who have managed to make it to the capital, Mogadishu, or to refugee camps in Kenya and Ethiopia....

An end to the east Africa drought predicted

Judith Akolo in the Kenya Broadcasting Corporation: The IGAD Climate Predictions and Applications Center - ICPAC has predicted the end to the drought ravaging the vast part of the Horn of Africa region. Speaking in Entebbe, Uganda, at the release of the short rains seasonal forecast for the Horn of Africa region, the Director of ICPAC Prof. Laban Ogallo warned that the rains expected to begin this month will not be able to completely reverse the suffering of thousands of people considering it has been a prolonged drought.

"To be able to reverse the current situation, the region would need very heavy and prolonged rainfall to completely recover from the devastating drought," said Prof Ogallo. He added that it is the short rains season which lasts some three to four months preceding yet another dry spell that begins January through to March.

Ogallo however said that if the little rain expected is well utilized, it could alleviate suffering to some extent. He urged governments in the greater Horn of Africa to take advantage of the short rains in order to mitigate the sufferings of communities in Somalia, North Eastern Kenya, Djibouti and Ethiopia, who have experienced the devastating drought.

The regional consensus climate outlook for the September to December 2011 rainfall season indicates increased likelihood of above normal to near normal rainfall. This condition will be experienced over the eastern parts of Southern Somalia, coastal, eastern and central Kenya as well as northeastern Tanzania....

Ali Hussein camp is one of several large camps for Internally Displaced People (IDPs) on the edge of Burao town, shot by Oxfam East Africa, Wikimedia Commons via Flickr, under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license