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E. African hunger

Last reviewed: 09-07-2008

Global price rises and drought compound food shortages


High food prices and drought have pushed millions of people in Ethiopia and Somalia to the brink of starvation.

  • Global food prices rises taking their toll
  • War hits fragile Somali economy
  • Year after year of drought and floods

    Ethiopia - Africa's second most populous nation - faces a crisis reminiscent of its devastating 1984-1985 famine, which killed more than 1 million.

    Ethiopia estimates that 4.5 million of its people need emergency food aid, and that's not including 8 million Ethiopians in drought-prone areas who regularly receive food or cash from a government programme.

    Escalating conflict in Somalia, which has led to massive displacement, combined with drought in central Somalia plus high inflation and worldwide increases in fuel and food costs, have left hundreds of thousands struggling to survive.

    "We are witnessing the worst tragedy of the past decade in Somalia," head of the International Committee of the Red Cross in Somalia, Pascal Hundt, said.

    Food and water shortages have reached life-threatening levels, especially for rural communities whose coping mechanisms have already been stretched to the limit, leaving livestock weak as pastures dry up.

    Kenya, Somalia and Ethiopia have suffered a series of emergencies, year after year.

    In 2007 more than a million people were in need of emergency food aid in Ethiopia following severe hailstorms which damaged staple and cash crops in southeastern areas of the country. In Somalia, the surge in fighting has disrupted trade and increased the price of available goods, severely restricting the availability of food.

    Cholera, diarrhoea and Rift Valley Fever compounded the misery of drought and food shortages in 2006, followed by floods towards the end of the year.

    The 2006 crisis - which the United Nations estimated left more than 11 million people in need of food aid in parts of Kenya, Ethiopia, Somalia, Eritrea, Djibouti, Burundi and Tanzania - came hard on the heels of a long drought that culminated in October 2005 with the complete failure of the short-rains season.

    The relentless cyclical drought is in part caused by massive deforestation in the region, according to the U.N. environment programme (UNEP).

  • Read our background briefing on hunger in Africa.
  • Read our background briefing Somalia's troubles.

    Key facts


    Somalia's population 8.4 million U.N. Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) Population Division (2006)
    Somalia life expectancy 47 years U.N. Development Programme 2006
    Percentage of Somali children under weight at age 5 (2000-2006) 36 percent UNICEF - State of the World's Children 2008
    Percentage of Somalis with access to improved water 29 percent UNICEF and World Health Organisation (WHO) 2006
    Ethiopia's population 80.8 million U.N. Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) Population Division (2006)
    Ethiopia life expectancy 51.8 years UNDP - Human Development Report 2007/2008
    Percentage of Ethiopian children under weight at age 5 (2000-2006) 38 percent UNICEF - State of the World's Children 2008
    Ethiopian population with access to improved water 22 percent UNICEF and World Health Organisation (WHO) 2006

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    Last updated:Tue Dec 1 04:37:18 2009