UN Says Horn of Africa Drought Kills over 1.5 Million Livestock, Warns of Catastrophe

Drought affected livestock walk toward a river near Biyolow Kebele, in the Adadle woreda of the Somali region of Ethiopia Wednesday, Feb. 2, 2022.  (Michael Tewelde/WFP via AP)
Drought affected livestock walk toward a river near Biyolow Kebele, in the Adadle woreda of the Somali region of Ethiopia Wednesday, Feb. 2, 2022. (Michael Tewelde/WFP via AP)
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UN Says Horn of Africa Drought Kills over 1.5 Million Livestock, Warns of Catastrophe

Drought affected livestock walk toward a river near Biyolow Kebele, in the Adadle woreda of the Somali region of Ethiopia Wednesday, Feb. 2, 2022.  (Michael Tewelde/WFP via AP)
Drought affected livestock walk toward a river near Biyolow Kebele, in the Adadle woreda of the Somali region of Ethiopia Wednesday, Feb. 2, 2022. (Michael Tewelde/WFP via AP)

Drought in the Horn of Africa has killed more than 1.5 million livestock and drastically cut cereal production, “and we are most definitely now sitting on the brink of catastrophe,” a senior official for the UN Food and Agriculture Organization said Monday.

Rein Paulsen, FAO’s director of emergencies and resilience who returned from the region Friday, said a “very small window" exists for taking urgent action, and a key is whether the region’s long rains between March and May are good -- and whether the agency gets the $130 million it needs until June.

The short rains in the region, which includes parts of Somalia, Ethiopia and Kenya, were supposed to come between October and December but “were extremely poor,” he said. “And this represents the third consecutive failed rainy season with lower average rans, all of which has a severe impact on vulnerable households.”

The result of the drought meant that overall cereal production for the last rainy season in southern Somalia was estimated to be 58% lower than the long-term average, Paulsen said. In agricultural areas in marginal coastal zones in southeastern parts of Kenya, “we’re looking at crop production estimated to be 70% below average,” he said, The Associated Press reported.

In addition, most places for water that have usually been resilient to climate variability have dried up in Kenya, he said during a virtual news conference from Rome.

Paulsen said $130 million in funding is essential now to provide cash for people to buy food until production resumes, to keep livestock alive and to provide drought-resistant seeds for farmers to reap a harvest.

“We have a window to the middle of this year — to June, which is a very time sensitive, narrow window for urgent actions to scale up to prevent a worst-case scenario,” Paulsen said. “Agriculture needs a lot more attention. It’s central to the survival of drought affected communities.”

During his visit to the region, Paulsen said: “We saw both livestock and wildlife carcasses by the side of the road as we were driving. We saw animals dying together with their farmers, and the numbers I think are quite shocking.”

In Kenya alone, 1.4 million livestock died in the final part of last year as a result of drought, and in southern Ethiopia, about 240,000 livestock died as a result of drought, he said.

Paulsen said that “it was quite traumatic driving through communities and seeing farmers tending livestock as they were dying by the side of the roads.”

Livestock are not only crucial to people’s livelihoods, he said, but they provide milk for children, and FAO is focused on providing urgent fodder and water to keep them alive.

The UN World Food Program said Feb. 8 that drought has left an estimated 13 million people in the Horn of Africa facing severe hunger amid the driest conditions since 1981. It is seeking $327 million to look after the urgent needs of 4.5 million people over the next six months.



4 Security Officers, 2 Children Killed in Bomb and Mortar Attacks in Pakistan

People drive amid smog in Lahore, Pakistan, 06 November 2024. EPA/RAHAT DAR
People drive amid smog in Lahore, Pakistan, 06 November 2024. EPA/RAHAT DAR
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4 Security Officers, 2 Children Killed in Bomb and Mortar Attacks in Pakistan

People drive amid smog in Lahore, Pakistan, 06 November 2024. EPA/RAHAT DAR
People drive amid smog in Lahore, Pakistan, 06 November 2024. EPA/RAHAT DAR

A roadside bomb exploded near a vehicle carrying security forces in restive northwestern Pakistan, killing four officers and wounding five others, officials said Thursday, and the same day two schoolchildren were killed when a mortar exploded near them elsewhere in the northwest.
The roadside bombing happened Wednesday in South Waziristan district, a former stronghold of the Pakistani Taliban, local police officer Dilawar Khan said.
The military in a statement confirmed the “martyrdom” of four officers, but said security forces also responded to the attack and killed five “Khwarij”, a term which is used by the military for the Pakistani Taliban.
In a statement, Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi paid tribute to the slain officers, The Associated Press reported.
No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, but the Pakistani Taliban, known as Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, has stepped up its assaults in the region since its ally the Afghan Taliban seized power in neighboring Afghanistan in 2021.
Later the same day, a mortar fired by insurgents landed near a road in the Tirah valley in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on Wednesday, killing two schoolchildren who were going to school on foot, police said.
The Pakistani military has launched dozens of operations against the Pakistani Taliban and other insurgents in South Waziristan and other former tribal regions nearby, but the militants continue to carry out frequent attacks.
On Thursday, Naqvi met with Chinese ambassador Jiang Zaidong in Islamabad to brief him about an investigation into an attack Tuesday in which a guard shot and wounded two Chinese nationals at a textile mill in the port city of Karachi, allegedly over a private dispute.