Famine in Africa

Hope grew for hard-pressed Somalisin the capital, Mogadishu, as the Islamist militant group al-Shabab,peacefully left the cityon Aug. 6, paving the way for international aidagencies to ship in food.

In what looks to be a related development,theU.S. government ispreparing to announce $100 millionin new famine aid, a top official said Monday.

Al-Shabab, which continues to control much of southern Somalia,has denied that a famine is taking place and has been blockinghumanitarian aid and aid workers.

There have also beenreports that al-Shabaabis preventing starving Somalis from fleeing to government-controlled, areas where aid is more easily accessible, and holding them in containment camps.

OnAug. 5, reports from Mogadishusaidgovernment troops shot seven civilians during a scramble for food aid at a refugee camp for those fleeing famine inthe south of the country. Witnesses said troops first tried to steal the rations, and when refugees attempted to grab the food, the soldiers shot them.

The famine in southern Somalia hasspread to five regions of the country and claimed the lives of tens of thousands of people. The United Nations has called it the worst hunger emergency in a generation. The Bakool and Lower Shabelle regions of southern Somaliawere the first to bedeclared famine zones on July 20 under criteria used by theUNto assess rates of death and malnutrition; Mogadishu, the nearby Afgoye corridor and the Middle Shabelle weredeclared famine zoneson Aug. 3.

The UNbegan airlifting supplies to southern Somaliaat the end of July in a desperate bid to reach at least 175,000 of the 2.2 million Somalis whom aid workers have been unable to reach.

While the Muslim holy month of Ramadan has begun, Somali refugees fleeing the famine in their countrysay they don't have enough food for the traditional feast that marks thebreaking ofthe fast at the end of the day.

The Horn of Africa is suffering a devastating drought, compounded bywar, neglect and spiralling food prices.About 40 per cent of its population of more than 160 million live in areas prone to extremefood shortages.Food production hasnot kept upwith growthand manyfarmers lack access to machinery and fertilizers.Some areas in the region have not had such a low rainfall in 60 years, according to the international aid group Oxfam.

The WorldFood Program estimatesthat 11.5 million people in Somalia, Ethiopia, Kenya, Djibouti and Uganda urgently need food aidand medical supplies and a total of 13 million have been affected by drought and food shortages.

The Canadian government has contributed about $22 million inhumanitarian assistance to the region this year. On July 22, International Cooperation Minister Bev Odaannounced during a tour of a refugee camp in Dadaab, Kenya, thatCanada would give at least $50 million moreto aid agencies working in East Africa. Forevery dollar donated to Canadian charities between July 6 and Sept. 16, the government will match the contribution.

Aid organizations say they have seen aspike in donations from average Canadians and expect those numbers to increase with the beginning of Ramadan. However, aid workers say the area faces a protracted crisis and fear donationscould taper offas time goes on.

Right now, the southern Somali regions of Bakool and Lower Shabelle regions aresuffering from famine. The UN says it needs $300 million in the next two months to prevent the famine from spreading to all eight regions of southern Somalia,and another $1.6 billion to sustain "essential programs" in the region, butdonations are just trickling in. The World Bank haspromised to provide more than $500 millionto help the drought victims in East Africa.

More than 130,000 Somalirefugees have left the country for Ethiopia and Kenya in the first six months of 2011 more than 50,000 of these in June alone, according to the UN. And now, with the UN unable to deliver emergency aid to large portions of Somalia, more refugees are expected to flood into the already overcrowded Kenyan camps.

Ongoing drought has killed up to 90 per cent oflivestock in some regions. The drought is not expected to let upbefore the end of the year.

Thelast time conditions were this bad was in 1992, when hundreds of thousands of Somalis starved to death.