By Julio Morejon Tartabull
Latin Press contributor
More than 36 million people are suffering from one of the driest periods in recent history, spread across Ethiopia (24.1 million); It is estimated that Somalia (7.8) and Kenya 4.35.
The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) announced that the values for the coming rainy season (March-April-May) will be lower than needed for the revival of the normal dynamics of life in the region.
Experts are calling the current season the sixth “unprecedented” in terms of low rainfall and agree it will take communities years to recover.
A joint statement by weather agencies and humanitarian partners warned of the risk amid persistently low levels of rainfall caused by the worsening climate.
Hundreds of thousands of people are at risk of starvation, and starvation affects millions more, in what observers consistently describe as a multifactorial phenomenon.
The Horn of Africa is a peninsula of great political instability made up of Somalia, Kenya, Sudan, Djibouti, Eritrea and Ethiopia, covering an approximate area of more than two million square kilometers.
It is estimated that more than 30 million people will be affected by the effects of the drought, especially as the area’s reliance on a single type of production (and export) makes it difficult to switch production lines and face the situation.
“…another bad rainy season from March to May, as forecast by weather authorities, would have devastating consequences,” tiempo.com quoted.
DOMINO EFFECT
The results of a study by the non-governmental organization (NGO) WaterAid show that droughts have been more frequent, more intense and widespread in Africa over the past 40 years.
The continent is still suffering the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, which froze trade and raised prices for food items handled by transnational companies in the international market.
For the NGO, the drought trend linked to climate change will “further exacerbate the challenges in Africa.”
All of this puts more than 37 million people – including about seven million children – who are on the brink of famine at risk of dying, aid groups said based on calculations from six months ago, but today the severity is estimated to be even greater could be .
Drought is devastating through what is known as the “domino effect” where water scarcity leads to hunger, malnutrition and contamination of water sources.
This, combined with inadequate medical care, is exacerbating the situation experienced by more than 21 million food insecure people in the Horn of Africa, according to data from the past four months.
United Nations specialists have described the current season as “the worst in 40 years” and recognized the chain of difficulties this abnormal climate behavior entails.
Undersecretary for Humanitarian Affairs and UN Emergency Relief Coordinator Martin Griffiths explained that some parents have school-age children and are selling cattle to pay school fees, but in the current situation have lost that opportunity due to a lack of animals.
ANOTHER THREAT
The predicted El Niño phenomenon, which will cause sea temperature changes in the central and eastern parts of the equatorial Pacific and affect various regions of the planet, is also seen as another threat to Africa.
“The chances of its development, although low in the first half of the year (15 percent from April to June), gradually increase to 35 percent from July,” says Francisco Martín León in tiempo.com.
arc/mt
Journalist for the Africa and Middle East newsroom of Prensa Latina