Up to 28 million people in East Africa are at risk of extreme hunger due to price spikes because of the Ukraine war and potential lack of rain this March, non-profit organisation Oxfam warned.
Kenya, Somalia and Ethiopia are experiencing the driest weather in 40 years, meanwhile South Sudan is tackling ongoing flooding, the group said.
It also highlighted what it views as the distraction of the international community because of the Ukraine conflict, leading to a neglect of the food crisis in the East African region.
Describing the global response as “woefully underfunded” a press release stated that only 3% of the $6bn (£4.5bn) United Nations (UN) 2022 humanitarian appeal for Ethiopia, Somalia and South Sudan had been funded.
“Areas of Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan and beyond are experiencing an unfolding full-scale catastrophe. Even if the rains do arrive this month, full recovery will be near impossible unless urgent action is taken today,” Oxfam’s International Executive Director, Gabriela Bucher, warned.
“The repercussions of the Ukrainian conflict on the global food system will reverberate around the globe, but it is the poorest and most vulnerable people who will be among those hit hardest and fastest,” she continued.
East African countries get up to 90% of their wheat from Ukraine and Russia, the press statement said.
One farmer said the lack of food and water is impacting his cattle: “Due to the droughts our donkeys have perished and the ones remaining are too weak to pull carts,” Ahmed Mohamud Omar from Wajir County, Kenya, said.
“I think about what will my family eat, where will their next meal come from, whether I will get the daily jerrycan of water,” he continued.
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