- 20% of the population must have fewer than 2100 kilocalories of food available per day
- More than 30% of the children must be acutely malnourished
- 2 deaths per day in every 10,000 people or 4 deaths per day in every 10,000 children must be caused by a lack of food
National Governments have the responsibility to declare a state of famine but, due to the fear of the long term detrimental impact doing so could have on the way the country is perceived, many governments are reluctant to do so. In the case of Somalia, the UN had to step in and take control of the situation as there is a lack of central government in the country.
Until this month, aid agencies had been banned from working in quite large parts of Somalia by the Al-Shabab group, who exercise control over much of southern and central Somalia. It is hoped that the declaration of famine in southern Somalia will provoke greater international efforts to help tackle the situation, which is only likely to get worse without international intervention.
The worst drought in over half a century being experienced in the horn of Africa is to blame for the famine. So, what has created this bad drought?
The drought is, perhaps, the most influential contributory factor that has generated the famine but it is not the only reason…….