Seven of the last 10 years have seen droughts caused by poor or failed rains in East Africa. Nearly 11 million people in Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia are dangerously hungry, with a high risk of a humanitarian catastrophe caused by the worst drought in living memory, Oxfam has warned. The report says that more than half of all children under five years old suffer from severe acute malnutrition, which is defined as having less than two kilocalories per day – or about one third “Climate change is not a distant, future threat: it is helping fuel this emerging catastrophe in which poverty, chronic malnutrition, weak governance, conflict, drought and climate change have combined to create a perfect storm,” it said. The charity has appealed for an international response to a request from the UN for £1.5bn of aid.
Nearly 11 million people in Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia are dangerously hungry, with a high risk of a humanitarian catastrophe caused by the worst drought in living memory, Oxfam has warned. The report says that more than half of all children under five years old suffer from severe acute malnutrition, which is defined as having less than two kilocalories per day – or about one third “Climate change is not a distant, future threat: it is helping fuel this emerging catastrophe in which poverty, chronic malnutrition, weak governance, conflict, drought and climate change have combined to create a perfect storm,” it said. The charity has appealed for an international response to a request from the UN for £1.5bn of aid.