This article looks into the drought situation in the horn of Africa, its effects, and probable solutions.

Hunger has been part of the world since time immemorial. Desertification has been an ongoing problem caused by climate change. The effects of desertification include hunger and malnutrition, conflict for minimal available respiratory water and food, refugee, and displacement among others.

Around 20.2 million children are under threat of severe hunger, thirst and compared to 10 million in July of 2022 at the horn of Africa. This problem is majorly among refugees in Kenya, Ethiopia, and Sudan. The long periods of drought have parched the land of any productivity.

“While collective and accelerated efforts have mitigated some of the worst impacts of what had been feared, children in the Horn of Africa is still facing the most severe drought in more than two generations”, stated UNICEF Deputy Regional Director for Eastern and Southern Africa Lieke van de Wiel.

Effects of drought

- Violence. As increased stress is driving families to the edge. The lack of food and water heightens disagreements and family conflicts. This may perpetrate family breakups and domestic violence.

- Child labor. The lack of basic needs is a big driver of child labor to support the family. Meager jobs from street selling to illegal businesses like sex work.

-Child marriage and female genital mutilation (FGM). Most parents compounded by other factors like illiteracy and cultural constraints will easily give out their young daughters in exchange for properties like livestock. This instant relief is what they need for the severe conditions caused by drought.

-Surge or refugeesThe loss of livelihoods and homes leads to refugee situations. Most people end up homeless and vulnerable with no food and water. They are forced to run to other countries for safety. The biggest refugee camps in Kenya, Kakuma, and Daadab are a result of instability and drought situations in Somalia and South Sudan. The droughts have caused serious humanitarian crises in Africa with many displaced people spread across the continent.

According to UNHCR, in 2004 a total of African refugees was put between 15 to 20 million. School dropout. Many children will drop out of school for many reasons including lack of school fees, need to support the family financially and hence look for work, constant migration with no sense of home or Constance, early marriage and conflicts, and insecurities. This problem triggers other abuses like sexual violence, exploitation, and other forms of gender-based violence.

The main affected countries include Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, and Somalia. Consecutive years of below-average rainfall in the Horn of Africa have created one of the worst climate-related emergencies of the past 40 years.

The protracted drought is forcing families to leave their homes in search of food and water, putting their health, safety, and education at risk. Most of the communities in these areas are pastoralists who entirely depend on livestock for daily provision. The drought often wipes their livestock live them at the mercy of death.

“We left our home in Guriel and walked for 10 days to reach Kaharey camp," says a ten-year-old Hibo as she carries water in a jerrycan to her temporary home in a camp in Somalia.

The scale of the displacement is immense – Somalia has 3.7 million internally displaced persons and Ethiopia has 4.2 million internally displaced persons and 800,000 refugees.

East Africa is not the only region affected, west Africa reports similar conditions. DAKAR, Senegal is facing its worst food crisis in a decade due to increasing droughts compounded by other factors like political instabilities. The war in Ukraine makes the situation critical since most African countries including Senegal are major importers of wheat and gasoline from Ukraine and Russia.

The number of West Africans needing emergency food assistance has nearly quadrupled from 7 million in 2015 to 27 million this year in nations including Burkina Faso, Niger, Chad, and Mali.

The situation is projected to worsen if no action is taken. A rapid course of action should be planned to relieve both the immediate and long-term effects of drought and food insecurity.

"Cereal production in some parts of sub-Saharan Africa has dropped by about a third compared to last year. Family food supplies are running out. Drought, floods, conflict, and the economic impacts of COVID-19 have forced millions of people off their land, pushing them to the brink" according to Assalama Dawalack Sidi, Oxfam's regional director for West and Central Africa.

While the frequency of drought in the region is thought to have increased from the end of the 19th century, three long droughts have had dramatic environmental and societal effects on the sub-Saharan nations. Famine followed severe droughts in the 1910s, the 1940s, and the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s, although a partial recovery occurred from 1975-80. The most recent drought occurred in 2012. These show a pattern of reoccurrence. It shines a light on the nature of this calamity and therefore a probability of mapping out a solution.

Drought mitigation strategies

Drought mitigation strategies in the Horn of Africa incorporate immediate approaches, such as distributing food, water, and other necessities to those affected, and long-term approaches like the introduction of smart agriculture, the introduction of irrigation, and other effective strategies such as planting drought-tolerant crop varieties that can withstand insufficient rainfall, or diversifying one’s crop and income base so that there is something to fall back on when drought strikes.

The government encourages these communities to diversify their approach and minimize dependence on one source of income. These various sources of income will act as a buffer when their main source is affected by climate change. Kenya’s government, for example, is supplying food to areas worst hit by drought and is also working on sustainable long-term solutions such as investing in community water sources like drilling boreholes and water harvesting techniques to supplement rained agriculture.

The Kenyan government has established a national drought management authority that oversees all matters related to drought management and advises citizens on incoming droughts. This branch can warn the population of eminent drought and advise them on how best to curtail its effects.

Ethiopia, being also largely affected by a good number of drought-affected populations has taken a step and put several drought mitigation strategies, including launching The Productive Safety Net Programme, which enables the rural-poor communities facing chronic food insecurity to resist shocks like storage or translation to another form of assets when surplus, create assets and become food self-sufficient.

The region has a history of drought horn of Africa is the worst hit recurrently. Both the local governments and the international community has taken steps to buffer the effects on the population affected. There is a lot to be done.