Ekip
June 19, 2017•Update: June 20, 2017
By Magdalene Mukami and Andrew Wasike
NAIROBI, Kenya
Millions of people in East Africa are facing starvation due to a drought that has hit the region causing famine in some areas, malnutrition, displacement and the spread of communicable diseases, but could this have been prevented?
In a new opinion piece released by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) regional offices based in Kenya’s capital Nairobi, Dr. Fatoumata Nafo-Traoré, the group’s regional director for Africa, argues that East African countries could have easily prevented crises by learning from past mistakes.
He says that countries such as Ethiopia alone have at least 7 million people who are dependent on food aid which is fast running out, adding that poor governance and planning are among the main reasons why crises in East Africa are repeating themselves as the underlying causes are rarely addressed.
In 1974 a global conference resolved that in a decade no child would go hungry, but “exactly a decade later, almost one million Ethiopians died in one of the worst famines in recent history,” Fatoumata argued.
“This was not the last one. Famines have been recurring, and they will return, unless public authorities, the donor community, United Nations agencies, regional bodies and national institutions genuinely refocus their efforts on dealing with the underlying causes,” he added.
Man-made crises
Saying that some of the causes, especially conflicts, are man-made, he urged governments to invest in longer-term solutions to break the endless cycle of food insecurity in East Africa.
With more than 3.7 million Kenyans facing starvation, the nation’s President Uhuru Kenyatta has declared the drought a national disaster, calling for international aid in order to save the lives of millions.
Last week Kenyan Agriculture Minister Willy Bett told a Turkish delegation the drought was worsening, calling for assistance in raising 11.1 billion Kenya shillings ($106 million) to tackle the crisis.
Proper planning could have softened the crisis, say some analysts, as every El Nino (heavy rain period) is followed by La Nina, with little or no rain.
“It is inexcusable, in the 21st century, to say that Africa is surprised by drought, one of the leading causes of food insecurity. With new technologies, climate prediction, historical data we can anticipate the onset of drought. As [the] former head of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification, Luc Gnacadja, once said: droughts do not happen overnight,” Fatoumata argued.
He said the South Sudan conflict that started in 2013 has created a humanitarian crisis leading to a food and refugee crisis and that unless lasting solutions to this and other conflicts are found, food insecurity will always be with us.
“In the conflict-affected countries, strenuous efforts need to be made to find resolutions. Warring parties must refrain from targeting civilians, and civilian infrastructure and services -- so that agricultural activities can continue. They must respect the laws of war,” he said.
Fatoumata called on East African governments to learn from past mistakes in order to prevent future calamities, and also called on the international community to aid local actors to achieve the goals.
