8 Critical Factors Behind Every Food Crisis

A shepherd seeks water for his goat at a large catchment area outside the village of Isdorto in the southern Bakol Region. The catchment has been empty for 70 days. Many livestock are dying, and the nearest water point is 25 km away. The water basin has dried up only three times in the past 80 years. The last time was in 1992, Somalia's worst drought in recent history. In January 2006 in southern Somalia, almost 2 million people face starvation and disease as part of severe and worsening drought in the Horn of Africa. Two successive years of failed rains have led to water scarcity, crop failures and livestock deaths. More than 8 million people across Kenya, Somalia, Ethiopia and Djibouti now require emergency assistance, and some 1.5 million children under age five are at risk of malnutrition and disease. In Somalia, cereal production is at its lowest in 10 years, while cattle deaths in the worst-affected areas have reached 20 to 30 per cent and could climb to 80 per cent by April. Malnutrition rates are over 25 per cent in some locations and are expected to rise. Somali children have already survived armed conflict, floods and forced dislocation. Today, they face further displacement and political instability as families migrate in search of water and food. UNICEF has launched an appeal for US $16 million to fund emergency drought relief across the region for the next three months. Working with Governments, the World Food Programme, NGOs and other partners, UNICEF supports supplementary feeding centres; the provision of safe water and sanitation, immunization and vitamin A; and education and child protection initiatives.