Drought worsened by Global Warming

Environmental Refugees

A devastating drought is threatening the lives and livelihoods of millions across an enormous swath of land in eastern Africa.  Observers warn an increasingly volatile climate means that portions of the region are becoming more and more inhospitable.

Drought stretches across Somalia, Djibouti, southern Ethiopia, northern and eastern Kenya, and northeastern Uganda. WFP says after the recent failed rainy season 23 million people are in need of emergency food relief, a marked increase from its previous numbers.

Historically, droughts are nothing new to these largely arid areas of the region, and the pastoral ethnic groups moving around these lands long ago learned how to prepare and recover from the normal drought cycle.  But the steady decline in rainfall in the region, combined with more frequent droughts and less predictable rainy seasons, have many worried that the current shortage of rainfall is not an isolated event but rather an indication of a new climate norm for the area.

The increasingly hostile climate has left the populations in a bitter struggle, not only against daily hunger, malnutrition, and thirst, but also a struggle to maintain their ancient ways of life; the nomadic cattle-centered livelihood.

In the near term, we may see massive hordes of environmental refugees all over Eastern Africa as it becomes increasingly less hospitable to human beings.  This recent round of drought has been made worse by inflated food prices across the affected region. Food prices in Kenya continue to sit at 100 to 130 percent greater than their normal levels.

The World Food Program says it projects it will need nearly $1 billion for the next six months to meet the needs of the region.  Lack of funding combined with the increased frequency of emergency food crises and with El Nino rains expected in early October,  the crisis is expected to deepen. 




source:  Alan Boswell,  Nairobi, 17 September 2009