Governments, UN agencies and international organizations met in Rome this week, urging the international community to continue their support for life saving operations in the Horn of Africa but also warning that food producing farmers and herders need immediate help to prevent the crisis from deepening.
The meeting called for a twin track approach that involves both meeting pressing relief needs as well as addressing the root causes of the problem and strengthening the affected populations’ resilience in the face of future shocks.
“Even as we deal with saving lives today, we should also go further and take steps to prevent future calamities. We have to start building for the future — now. Comprehensive, government-endorsed investment plans are already available — the funding gaps are clear and large. If governments and their donor partners do not invest in agriculture now, the appalling famine we are struggling to redress will return to shame us yet again,” said FAO Director-General Jacques Diouf.
The meeting also stressed the vital importance of supporting actions aimed at addressing the root causes of the problem in the Horn:
- Protecting and restoring degraded land resources
- Improving water management and expanding irrigation (only 1% of the land in the Horn of Africa region is irrigated, versus 7% in Africa and 38% in Asia)
- Improving animal, plant, and range management practices of small scale farmers to make them less vulnerable to hazards and climate variability
- Strengthening community-based animal health services
- Identifying viable and acceptable alternatives to pastoral livelihoods
Source: Reliefweb – FAO – Crisis in the Horn of Africa
Read also the posts about the Horn of Africa drought on the ILRI blog
Picture courtesy Adhoch/ILRI