Harrowing pictures from Ethiopia as 10 million people face hunger following worst drought in 50 years

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  • ByAnna Dubuis

More than half of those are children, Save the Children warned, and an estimated 400,000 children are at risk of developing acute malnutrition

Save the Children / Hedinn Halldorsson
Drought: Because of dried water points and lack of vegetation for livestock, many families are leaving their permanent homes in search of better access to food and water

More than 10 million people in Ethiopia are at risk of hunger following the worst drought in 50 years as charities warn history could repeat itself.

More than half of those are children, Save the Children reported, and an estimated 400,000 children are at risk of developing acute malnutrition.

The El Niño weather phenomenon has been blamed for the failure of this year’s rains across much of the east African country.

El Niño is a warming of the ocean waters of the Pacific and has a major impact on weather patterns globally – and Ethiopia is one of the worst affected.

Save the Children / Hedinn Halldorsson Evidence of the severity of this year's drought is the unusual presence of camel carcasses, which are normally an extremely hardy animal well-suited to this environment. Since the start of this year's drought, over 69,000 animals have perished across 7 woredas (districts) alone
Carcasses: Since the start of this year’s drought more than 69,000 animals have perished across seven districts

The drought has had a devastating impact on Ethiopia’s harvest, decimating the country’s crops and leaving millions without any food or water.

Across the dried-out plains, the carcasses of livestock on which people relied for food lay scattered.

The Ethiopian government estimated two months ago that about 8.2million people would need emergency food aid in 2016.

Save the Children / Hedinn Halldorsson Dried water beds and arid conditions dominate the landscape, where there should be adequate rainfall flow at this time of year. On the rare occasion water does flow, it is contaminated by thousands of animal carcasses which often dot the water's path
Health hazard: On the rare occasion water does flow, it is contaminated by thousands of animal carcasses which often dot the water’s path

But as the situation escalated, that figure has surged to 10.1million people.

The Ethiopian authorities have allocated more than $192million of its own resources to emergency relief.

Read more El Nino: The story behind the weather phenomenon set to cause chaos

But Save the Children today warned the scale of the problem required a serious international response.

In 2011, devastating droughts caused a widespread food crisis across Ethiopia – and experts warn the country is headed in the same direction.

Save the Children / Hedinn Halldorsson Dried water beds and arid conditions dominate the landscape, where there should be adequate rainfall flow at this time of year. On the rare occasion water does flow, it is contaminated by thousands of animal carcasses which often dot the water's path
El Nino: Dried water beds and arid conditions dominate the landscape, where there should be adequate rainfall flow at this time of year

“The worst drought in Ethiopia for 50 years is happening right now, with the overall emergency response estimated to cost $1.4bn, so the world leaders meeting at the Paris climate talks this week must take the opportunity to wake up and act before it’s too late,” warned John Graham, Save the Children’s Country Director in Ethiopia.

Read more El Niño set to become MEGA, as warm ocean temperatures predict strongest storm since 1998

“Tragically, history is set to repeat itself in 2016 unless the international community acts right now.

Save the Children / Hedinn Halldorsson Two-year-old Seid eats high nutrient peanut paste provided by Save the Children's Health Extension Worker
Looming crisis: Two-year-old Seid is one of more than 5.5million children who face hunger

“We simply cannot sit back and wait until the situation has reached crisis point this time.”

Source = Mirror

 

 

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