The UN says that recurrent drought conditions linked to the El Nino phenomenon has disrupted local livelihoods and created conditions for 20 million “food insecure” people in the region, including Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, and Sudan. The drought has affected virtually every aspect of life. In Ethiopia, for example, where agriculture accounts for 45% of GDP, “crop and livestock production has dropped by 50 to 90 per cent”.
By GWC Staff
The UN says that recurrent drought conditions linked to the El Nino phenomenon has disrupted local livelihoods and created conditions for 20 million “food insecure” people in the region, including Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, and Sudan. The drought has affected virtually every aspect of life. In Ethiopia, for example, where agriculture accounts for 45% of GDP, “crop and livestock production has dropped by 50 to 90 per cent”.
Throughout eastern Africa, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) says the water crisis and drought conditions has “increased risk for waterborne and vectorborne diseases due to a combination of water shortages, poor sanitation and hygiene conditions, high malnutrition levels and population displacement”. OCHA’s March 2016 report notes that the drought has reduced the local populations’ livelihoods, access to education, and has created additional risks for “vulnerable people travelling long distances to collect food and water”.
In Somalia, failed seasonal rains have led to “large-scale abnormal outmigration of livestock, rising water prices and sharp increase in debt levels among poor households”. Livestock accounts for 40% of Somalia’s GDP and the impact of drought conditions and water scarcity on livelihoods, trade and the environment has been particularly costly.
The stability of this vast region is currently threatened by drought, lower food production, high unemployment, and irregular migration. History has not been necessarily kind to East Africa. Wars and refugee crises are all too common, and the legacy of devastation lingers over the region.
Water scarcity is also unleashing an additional burden upon the region and potentially fuelling distrust and political hostility among states. Egypt has long wanted to “stop the largest hydroelectric project in Africa”, as a “sense of mistrust hangs over” an Ethiopian dam on the Blue Nile.