Millions face starvation in East African drought

A sweeping drought across East Africa has left millions of people at risk of starvation, in a region plagued by increasingly erratic rainfall, humanitarian organisations and officials warn.

Huge food shortages and loss of livelihood have left 6.2 million Ethiopians needing relief aid, while about 3.8 million in Kenya's arid areas, where livestock is being decimated, have also been affected, UN agencies say.

War-ravaged Somalia, meanwhile, is witnessing its worst humanitarian crisis since civil unrest erupted there two decades ago, with a third of its 10 million people in need of food assistance and one in every five children acutely malnourished.

For Kenya, "this is the worst (drought) in nearly a decade. One in ten Kenyans are in need of food assistance," said Marcus Prior, a World Food Programme spokesman in Nairobi.

"The situation is extremely serious. Rains have failed across many areas," said Prior, whose organisation recently appealed for $230 million to help drought victims.

In a region where small-scale subsistence farming is the mainstay of a majority of the population, the impact of climate change on rainy seasons can often have dramatic consequences.

Responses to drought disasters have similarly been erratic and appeals for donor aid, emergency food distributions and medical assistance frequently dry up when the first drops of rain fall.

And in the absence of permanent solutions, many of those affected by drought find no respite even when the rains come as floods sweep their homes, destroy crops and cause water-borne diseases.

Tanzania recently sent 40,000 tonnes of cereals to its northern regions affected by drought, and where Agriculture Minister Stephen Wasira said famine has been reported.

"There are pockets of famine in northern regions... 'Short' rains failed and 'long' rains were inadequate," Mr Wasira said, referring to the two main rainy seasons.

The WFP is also feeding more than one million Ugandans, mainly in the northern and eastern regions, as a prolonged drought weighs heavily on the people.

"If the rains do not (increase) in the next few days we are headed for trouble," said Ugandan Information Minister Kabakumba Masiko.

"Daily, we get reports of food shortage from some regions and the government has been intervening by delivering relief (food)."

Rather than suffer food and water shortages sparked by recurring droughts, East African states can take a cue from desert countries like Egypt or Sudan and use irrigation to turn around their plight, experts argue.

"We wait for harsh events to occur and then run in panic," said Kenyan soil scientist Peter Okoth. "Irrigation would certainly overcome the perennial drought."

"It's a shame that we are actually begging for food yet we have a lot of water and we have enough land that is lying idle."

Food shortages also spark an increase in commodity prices, feeding a vicious cycle that drives millions closer to starvation.

According to official figures, food prices in Uganda increased by six per cent in the last month, while the cost of electricity in neighbouring Kenya rose by 6.5 per cent after two key hydroelectric dams shut down due to low water levels.

However, forecasters are predicting above-average rainfall in the coming months to last up to early 2010 due to an El Niño phenomenon expected to ease the harsh drought.