The WFP warns that the “multiple simultaneous crises” in the Horn of Africa “are far from over”

May 24. (EUROPE PRESS) –

The World Food Program (WFP) has warned this Wednesday that millions of people are in a famine emergency in the Horn of Africa and has indicated that this situation “is far from over” given the existence of “multiple simultaneous crises” in this region of the African continent.

“Conflict, extreme weather situations and economic shocks: the Horn of Africa region is facing multiple crises simultaneously,” lamented the organization’s regional director for the Horn of Africa, Michael Dunford.

“After five failed rainy seasons, floods have replaced drought, killing livestock, damaging crop fields and destroying more livelihoods,” he said, before adding that “the outbreak of conflict in Sudan is forcing hundreds thousands of people to flee their homes.

Thus, the WFP has highlighted in a statement that the last three years of drought have left 23 million people in a situation of acute hunger in areas of Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia, where mortality and malnutrition rates are “unacceptably high”.

Added to this is the fact that failed harvests and high transportation costs have caused food prices to rise to a point where they are inaccessible to millions of people in the region. The basic food basket in East Africa cost 40 percent more in March than a year ago, while in Ethiopia fuel prices have nearly doubled over the past 12 months.

For this reason, the WFP has stressed that it will take years before the region can recover, before explaining that humanitarian aid is a lifeline, although resources are under even more pressure due to the conflict in Sudan, which has left even now more than a million displaced, including about 250,000 refugees.

“WFP’s rapid expansion of life-saving assistance helped prevent a famine in Somalia in 2022, but even though the emergency is far from over, a lack of funding is forcing us to reduce assistance to those in dire need.” desperate,” Dunford argued.

Along these lines, he explained that “without sustainable financing for the emergency and solutions for climate adaptation, the next climate crisis could once again put the region on the brink of famine.”

As of the end of 2022, WFP was delivering food aid to 4.7 million people in Somalia, though the agency was forced to scale back in April to three million beneficiaries due to lack of funding to support its efforts. operations.

The agency has stressed that it could have to cut them again to benefit only 1.8 million people in July without additional funds, which would mean that almost three million people affected would not receive support, despite the fact that the needs continue to exist. . To avoid this, 810 million dollars (about 753 million euros) are needed over the next six months.