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ETHIOPIA: A million people in southeast face extreme food insecurity |
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 ADDIS ABABA, 29 Dec 2005 (IRIN) - At least one million people in
southeastern Ethiopia are facing extreme food insecurity following a
prolonged drought, a famine early warning agency reported on Thursday,
saying the crisis had sparked conflicts over scarce water and pasture.
There
had also been reports of some children dying of hunger-related causes,
the USAID-funded Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET) said.
The situation in the area, known as the Somali Region, could get worse
in the next three months, it added.
"Urgent responses are required to prevent an alarming escalation of a
food insecurity crisis," FEWS NET said in an emergency bulletin.
Government
officials have estimated that US $40 million is needed to help save
animals and to provide water and healthcare to affected people. FEWS
NET said pre-famine conditions had emerged as
a result of the poor
rains as well as fast depleting pasture and water sources. The UN World
Food Programme said earlier in December it had sent food aid to the
region.
The Somali Region of Ethiopia - an area the size of
Britain - is one of the driest and most inhospitable parts of the Horn
of Africa country. Average annual rainfall in parts of the region is
250 millimetres. Most of the inhabitants are nomadic pastoralists.
FEWS NET said while food aid was the immediate priority to save lives, other interventions were also imperative.
"Water, fodder provision and health (human and animal) interventions are now equally important," it said.
The
warning follows assessments by government officials who said the rains
had failed in the southern parts of the region, the scene of
catastrophic hunger in 2000 when some 50,000 people died.
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