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Over 50 million to face acute food insecurity in 2022- IGAD

Storyline:World

GOOBJOOG NEWS|ADDIS ABABA: The Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) has sounded alarm that over 50 million people are projected to face high levels of acute food insecurity in 2022 across seven IGAD countries.

According to the 2022 edition of the IGAD Regional Focus on Food Crises released on Friday, Somalia, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya,South Sudan, Sudan and Uganda have been named as some of the countries that are expected to face unprecedented levels of food insecurity.

Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan, and Sudan are currently facing the largest food crises in the region, with about 300,000 people projected to face famine in Somalia and South Sudan in 2022, said the report.

IGAD has warned of the risk of famine occurring in eight areas of Somalia through September in the event of widespread crop and livestock production failures, spiraling food costs, and in the absence of scaled-up humanitarian assistance.

The number of people facing extreme food insecurity in 2022 has risen sharply from 42 million people in 2021 to  50 – 51 million people. 

“Our region has been hit like never before”, said Workneh Gebeyehu, Executive Secretary of the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD). “The combination of climate extremes, conflict, and macroeconomic challenges makes it almost impossible for our otherwise very resilient communities to sustain multiple shocks. The figures we are releasing today are heartbreaking, and I’m very worried they could increase even more as the outlook for the October to December rainy season is bleak.”

Climate change and La Niña have also been noted as some of the contributing factors to the unprecedented multi-season drought, punctuated by one of the worst March-to-May rains in 70 years. 

“Conflict, climate extremes, economic shocks, rising costs and now the impact of the conflict in Ukraine on food and energy prices are pushing millions towards starvation in Eastern Africa,” said Michael Dunford, the World Food Programme’s Regional Director for Eastern Africa. “Sadly, there is a very real risk of famine in the region, and we must do everything possible to prevent this from happening. At the same time, together we must start building the capacity to prepare and respond to future shocks which are increasingly inevitable because of a changing climate.”