A huge famine is brewing in the Horn of Africa

by bernt & torsten

The eyes of the whole world are on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. At the same time, a huge famine is brewing in the Horn of Africa.

People in the Horn of Africa need food, water, money and anything that helps them survive.

Millions of people living in the Horn of Africa are currently experiencing an extreme drought that is described as the worst in the area in 40 years. There has not rained in a year. Not even a drop has fallen from the sky.

The drought has led to the harvests failing, resulting in no food to eat. Both people and animals have died because of this.

The grain is stuck in Ukrainian ports

Current estimates show that 690 million people around the world lack food for the day. In the Horn of Africa, 13 million people are at risk of acute food shortages. At the same time, their situation is overshadowed by the war in Ukraine. 

The people of the Horn of Africa are currently affected by the war in Ukraine in several ways. Among other things, the world’s aid money has been diverted to Ukraine, where the need is great.

Another thing that comes into play is that half of all the wheat that the UN food program usually uses has come from Ukraine. Ukraine is an incredibly important country for exporting grain and thus being able to saturate millions of people in Africa. Now all this food is blocked. It is located in Ukrainian ports. It is estimated that 4.5 million tonnes of grain are currently in various containers in Ukrainian ports. The food can not be shipped because Russia is blocking all these ports.

The western world bears a great responsibility

It is not possible to link an individual natural event to climate change. But researchers have been able to see that extreme droughts, such as the one we now see in the Horn of Africa, occur more often and get much worse due to the warmer climate.

When it comes to climate change, in particular, we know that we in rich countries in the western world are responsible for the large emissions that have led to this. It is not the woman you have talked to in Africa who has done that. Without it, it is we and our emissions that have made this situation worse. It is not the only explanation for the drought in Africa but it is an important explanation.

What hope is there for people like Hawo?

The short-term hope is that help must come in now. The world must look up from all the horrors of Ukraine and see what is happening in a completely different part of the world – Africa. Make sure this help arrives and it’s in a hurry.