Browsing: Drought in Africa

• Currently, East Africa is reeling from the effects of the worst drought on record; extreme heat is ravaging northern Africa while flash floods remain a constant threat.  
• This is despite the continent contributing the least to global warming and having the lowest carbon emissions on record.
• According to the African Development Bank (AfDB), Africa is the most vulnerable continent to climate change impacts under all climate scenarios above 1.5 degrees Celsius. 

Over the past few years, the frequency and intensity of adverse effects of climate change in different African nations has been on the rise. Rising temperatures, floods, and droughts are as a result of climate change yet the continent contributes the least carbon emissions. 

However, resultant collateral damage is posing systemic risks to the continent’s economies. Infrastructure investments, water and food systems, public health, agriculture, and livelihoods are at risk, threatening to undo Africa’s modest development gains. Left unchecked, …

• Kenya will receive an additional US$126 million from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) to address the ongoing drought
• USAID said it was providing the funding to address the hunger crisis that has left more than four million people in the grips of a dire hunger crisis
• The announcement comes following a visit to the country by First Lady Jill Biden where she met with drought-affected communities and heard first-hand about the devastating impacts

Kenya will receive an additional US$126 million from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) to address the ongoing drought.

On Tuesday, February 28, 2023, USAID said it was providing the funding to address the hunger crisis that has left more than four million people in the grips of a dire hunger crisis.

According to USAID, the number is expected to rise to over five million by June 2023.

The announcement comes following a visit …

Time is running out for Africa to guarantee food security for its population. As the saying goes, it is not very reasonable to keep doing the same things and expect different results.

Africa needs crops that can withstand pests and disease, withstand drought, flourish without excessive pesticides and fertilizers, and produce healthy food. Africa needs crops to enable smallholder farmers to prosper. GMOs provide a powerful instrument for Africa to address these demands when other choices fail over time.…

• The US government sent out a warning against 14 countries, mainly from Africa, against buying grains from Russia on grounds that they had been stolen from Ukraine
• Washington backed claims by Ukraine, which accused Russia of stealing over 500,000 tons of wheat, estimated to cost over $100 million since the start of the war
• Russia launched a full assault on Ukraine, its southwest neighbour, on February 24, 2022, marking a significant escalation in the ongoing Russian-Ukrainian conflict

As millions of Africans continue to face severe drought that has been exacerbated by the rising food prices, Russia is making a bold move that the US government has been quick to condemn.

The US government sent out a warning against 14 countries, mainly from Africa, against buying grains from Russia on grounds that they had been stolen from Ukraine. Russia launched a full assault on Ukraine, its southwest neighbour, on February 24, …

• UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) says that an extended, multi-season drought is driving acute food insecurity in the region
• FAO said that 12 to 14 million people are now at risk as crops continue to wither and animals weaken
• Resource-based conflicts are escalating as competition for water and pasturelands increases, and malnutrition rates are rising in affected areas of Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia

Multiple data, including that of the African Development Bank (AfDB) indicates that Africa holds the key for feeding the nine billion people that will be on Earth by 2050. 

While delivering a passionate speech at Iowa State University in the US in 2017, AfDB’s President Akinwumi Adesina noted that the continent sits on 65 percent of the uncultivated arable land left in the world. 

He said that what Africa does with agriculture will determine the future of food in the world.  Adesina also noted that the …

• The number of acutely food insecure people in West and Central Africa has risen to a record high of 28 million people
• This is the largest number of people facing high acute food insecurity in West and Central Africa recorded since 2014

A new report has indicated that the number of acutely food insecure people in West and Central Africa has risen to a record high of 28 million people; days after Save the Children said more than 260,000 children may have died from extreme hunger or related diseases in East Africa.

According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP), West and Central Africa trends point toward a further deterioration if support to stem the spread of hunger is not increased.

Data by the two UN organizations indicate that in the Sahel and West Africa, 26 million people …