Horn of Africa to face biggest crisis in a decade: UN

May 12, 2009, 18:05 GMT

Geneva - The Horn of Africa, and Somalia in particular, will likely face the most severe drought and food crisis in a decade, top United Nations humanitarian officials warned Tuesday.

The UN has estimated that at least 19 million people in Ethiopia, Somalia and Kenya are in urgent need of food and other humanitarian assistance.

In Somalia, about 24 per cent of children under the age of five are facing malnourishment. Last month alone, the World Food Programme assisted 2.3 million people in the beleaguered country, though more aid would be needed.

Some 50 per cent of the population there was already receiving some aid.

Parts of Somalia were expected to enter their third year of drought, said Marc Bowden, the UN's top aid official for the country.

'We are now facing a drought in Somalia that is worse than people have seen for at least a decade,' he told reporters in Geneva.

'The need for humanitarian assistance is increasing dramatically,' Bowden added.

While the UN has asked for 984 million dollars to respond to these needs in 2009 it has only received so far 34 per cent of the appeal.

The drought and high prices of food were also hitting Ethiopia and Kenya rather hard.

John Holmes, the UN's humanitarian chief, said that people who were already 'chronically living on the margins of survival' would be pushed further to the brink.

This was compounded by the economic crisis.

'There is a decline of remittances because of the economic crisis,' Holmes said. This was 'having a critical affect on vulnerable populations' particularly in regards to their ability to buy food.