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HORN OF AFRICA FACES SEVERE DROUGHT

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Ekeomah Atuonwu

The United Nations World Food Programme (UNEP) has warned that the Horn of Africa is experiencing the driest conditions recorded since 1981.

Severe drought has left an estimated 13 million people across Ethiopia, Kenya, and Somalia facing severe hunger in the first quarter of this year.

The Horn of Africa is a large peninsula of East Africa, located on the eastern most part of the African mainland.

The Horn of Africa /Courtesy/

The UN agency has requested rapid aid to avoid humanitarian crises in Somalia, Kenya, and Ethiopia, that are experiencing the driest circumstances since 1981.

Pastoral and farming communities in southern and south-eastern Ethiopia, south-eastern and northern Kenya, and south-central Somalia, are all suffering from drought.

The region has a high rate of malnutrition. The World Food Programme (WFP) is delivering life-saving food and nutrition support to drought-affected populations in all three drought-affected nations.

WFP launched its Regional Drought Response Plan for the Horn of Africa this week, requesting $327 million to meet the immediate needs of 4.5 million people in the coming six months and assist communities become more resilient to catastrophic climate shocks.

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Ekeomah Atuonwu