Ethiopian Informer
ADDIS ABABA: Some 24.1 million people in Ethiopia will be affected by severe drought in October 2022, the United Nation has warned.
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said Wednesday that communities in the Horn of Africa are facing the immediate threat of starvation, with forecasts indicating that the October-December 2022 rainy season is likely to underperform, marking the fifth consecutive failed season in parts of Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia.
Across the Horn of Africa, at least 36.1 million people will be affected by severe drought in October 2022, including 24.1 million in Ethiopia, 7.8 million in Somalia and 4.2 million in Kenya, the UNOCHA said.
The UNOCHA said this figure represents a significant increase from July 2022 (when an estimated 19.4 million people were affected), reflecting the impact of the drought in additional areas of Ethiopia and rising needs in Somalia and Kenya.
The October-December 2020, March-May 2021, October-December 2021 and March-May 2022 seasons were all marred by below-average rainfall, leaving large swathes of Somalia, southern and south-eastern Ethiopia, and northern and eastern Kenya facing the most prolonged drought in recent history, while the March-May 2022 rainy season was the driest on record in the last 70 years.
The 2020-2022 drought has now surpassed the horrific droughts in 2010-2011 and 2016-2017 in both duration and severity and will continue to deepen in the months ahead, with catastrophic consequences.
Two districts in Somalia are at imminent risk of famine and at least 21 million people are projected to face high levels of acute food insecurity due to drought in Ethiopia,
Kenya and Somalia between October and December 2022.
In Somalia, 6.7 million people will likely experience high levels of acute food insecurity (IPC Phase 3 or above) from October to December, including over 300,000 in Catastrophic (IPC Phase 5) conditions, while people in rural areas of Baidoa and Burhakaba districts and displaced people in Baidoa town of Bay region are at risk of famine.
About 9.9 million people in Ethiopia are severely food insecure due to the drought, according to the Drought Response Plan. In Kenya, some 4.35 million people are expected to face acute food insecurity (IPC Phase 3 and above) between October and December 2022, according to the Long Rains Season Assessment.
With the October to December 2022 rains projected to fail, food insecurity will rise in the months ahead, and between 23 and 26 million people will likely face acute food insecurity due to the Horn of Africa drought by February 2023, the UNOCHA cited the Food Security and Nutrition Working Group (FSNWG).
Over 8.9 million livestock, which pastoralist families rely upon for sustenance and livelihoods, have died across the region, including 3.5 million in Ethiopia, 2.4 million in Kenya and over 3 million in Somalia, according to the latest FSNWG Drought Special Report.
The figures translates to the loss of 120 million liters of milk, leaving 1.6 million children under age 5 across the region without a daily glass of milk, according to FAO, with severe consequences for their nutrition.
“The severity and duration of this drought present an existential threat to pastoralist communities in the hardest-hit areas,” it said.
According to the UNOCHA, experience shows that it takes at least five years for a pastoralist family to rebuild their herd after a drought.
“However, with many families having lost all of their livestock during this drought, and droughts becoming more frequent and intense in the Horn of Africa, some may be forced to leave pastoralism,” it said.
