Browsing: Drought

• About 23 million people in Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia are facing acute food insecurity. 
• The worst drought in 40 years in the region has seen people lose cattle, crops, and entire livelihoods in the past three years. 
• While current rains have brought some reprieve, it has also led to floods, leading to displacement, increased risk of disease, livestock loss and crop damage.

About 23 million people from Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia are facing acute food insecurity attributable to the worst drought in 40 years and raging floods.

According to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the double whammy of disaster has left communities vulnerable having lost cattle, crops, and entire livelihoods.

“Over the past three years, communities have been forced to take extreme measures to survive, with millions of children and families leaving their homes out of pure desperation in search of food and water,” said Mohamed Fall, UNICEF Regional …

• The Kenyan Government has partnered with ZEP-RE (PTA Reinsurance Company), Kenya Development Corporation (KDC), and the World Bank, to launch the De-Risking, Inclusion, and Value Enhancement of pastoral economies (DRIVE) project.
• Over 250,000 households are expected to benefit from the World Bank-backed project representing 1.6 million pastoralists and their dependents across Kenya, Ethiopia, Somalia, and Djibouti over a five-year period.
• DRIVE project seeks to de-risk pastoral systems through insurance, savings, and financial education while de-risking private sector investments that provide reliable markets to millions of pastoralists including women and youth.

In drought-stricken Kenya, millions of dead livestock tell of lost livelihoods as the worst dry spell in a half-century sweeps across the Horn of Africa. Latest data estimates that over 2.6 heads of livestock—cattle, goats and even camels, erstwhile “ships of the desert”—have died due to lack of water and pasture following failed rains, piling huge pressure on pastoral families …