By Roger Caldwell
In the next six to eight years, Africa will be the most populous Continent on the planet earth. Africa has one of the youngest groups of inhabitants in the world and will continue to make babies and grow. There is confusion and war everywhere, but very few news agencies are discussing the drought catastrophe in Africa.
“Harvests are ruined, livestock are dying, and hunger is growing as recurrent droughts affect the Horn of Africa,” said Michael Dunford, UN Regional Director in the World Food Programmed Regional Bureau for Eastern Africa. “The conditions have decimated livestock, forcing thousands in a region where many are farmers into displacement camps. We never experienced this before.”
The Horn of Africa is the easternmost extension of the continent, which includes the countries of Djibouti, Ethiopia, Ertrea, Somalia, parts of Kenya, Sudan, and Uganda. This is the driest conditions in over four decades, fueled in part by climate change.
Even though the situation is bad, things are not out of control if the world acts immediately. The United Nations children’s agency has warned that children will die or suffer from life-long cognitive or physical damage without quick action to avoid famine. In four countries 5.5 million children are threatened with acute malnutrition if they do not receive help and assistance.
This is not the first time on the continent that there has been famine and drought, but with new technology, and collaboration from a diversity of organizations there is hope. There was a drought and a famine a decade ago, and it killed hundreds of thousands of Africans, and no one wants a rerun of those conditions.
It is extremely important that the world is aware of the conditions that exists in the countries in Africa and put together a plan to provide resources to drought regions. There are countries in Africa, who are in a position to aid their neighboring countries. These countries must demand and ask the United Nations, wealthy African Americans, and billionaires for resources and assistance.
The world is too small and too many billionaires who are in a position to help with a short-term emergency relief plan to curtail the crisis. There are food productions and food security issues all over the world, and there are challenges with clean water and food shortages. With food shortages and the concept of food security there are six dimensions: 1, availability, 2, access, 3, stability, 4, utilization, 5, agency, and 6, sustainability.
According to William G. Moseley, DeWitt Wallace Professor of Geography, Director of Food, Agriculture & Society Program, Macalester College, “There are also regions where several countries, for example, Somalia, Ethiopia, Mali, and Burkina Faso racked by political instability and conflict. This affects the stability of markets that farmers and herders use for food purchases, input needs and sales. They are just as critical as rainfall.”
There is no one answer to famine and drought in Africa, and it will take resources, finances, scientist, and a diversity of institutions that can come together to assist. There will be a number of vulnerable food systems, and a need for collaborations and information exposed to the world.
Without the mainstream media and the Black media casting a light on the story, this continent will continue to suffer in silence. There are too many other lead stories to be concerned about. Globalization, modern development, the pandemic, and war are discussed every day, but where is the discussion of drought and the famine in Africa?
There are 13 million Africans across the Horn of Africa that face severe hunger, and 5.5 million are children. Africa is at the brink of a catastrophe if there is no immediate action in the world.
Who really cares in a continent where the people are darker than blue?
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