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UN says “massive and continued” assistance necessary

Country Map - Horn of Africa IRIN
Eritrea, Ethiopia, Somalia and Sudan are named as among the worst-affected countries in an FAO list of 16 sub-Saharan African countries facing exceptional food emergencies - making the Horn of Africa the hardest hit region on the continent. The August issue of the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation’s (FAO) Food Supply and Crop Prospect report said continuing drought had undermined food production in vast areas of eastern Africa, but also blamed war and civil strife. “Large numbers of people will need massive and continued emergency assistance” into next year, the report said. In Eritrea more than 1.5 million people had been displaced, most of whom fled their homes in May and June this year because of renewed fighting with Ethiopia over the disputed border. Displacement had exacerbated an already precarious food supply. “The food supply situation gives cause for serious concern”, the report said. Ethiopia, also affected by the two year-old border war, had “large numbers of people now depending solely on food assistance for survival”, the FAO said. Many had lost their livestock and livelihoods due to drought, and malnutrition was on the increase. A number of starvation-related deaths had been reported. Serious malnutrition has also been reported in parts of Somalia. In the report, FAO cited the loss of livelihoods caused by recurring drought, and the long-term effects of civil insecurity and a lack of investment in the economy, as underlying causes. In Sudan, where the food supply situation is “stable in general”, the report said nearly 2.4 million people were depending on food aid due to crop losses and population displacements caused by civil war. Most of those affected are in the south. Tens of thousands of refugees have also crossed into Sudan - in the east - fleeing the border war between Ethiopia and Eritrea.

This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions

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