Somaliland: East Africa will need more help to stave off famine caused by climate change, warn aid workers

[Deeq A.]

A parent and child in the drought-hit village of Dhabarmamac
Photos from trip to Somaliland by Rob Hastings reporting on the East Africa drought with ActionAid and the DEC in July 2017, witnessing aid distribution in Dhabarmamac where 50 families are receiving food and water, and visiting an Internally Displaced People camp in Fadhigab where there is only enough aid supplies for 200 out of 500 families – both in the east of the country where the drought has been at its worst. rob.hastings@inews.co.uk
(Photo: Rob Hastings)

Short-term international aid can do only so much when farmers in East Africa are battling climate change which will continue to kill in 2018. By Rob Hastings December is always dry in Somaliland. An average of just 1mm of rain falls in the East African country throughout these 31 days. But farmers and their families are used to the conditions at this time of year. It’s when the skies remain stubbornly empty in April, when the first wet season of the year is supposed to have arrived, that they realise they’re in trouble. After enduring a three-year drought, the worst in living memory, they’re now being warned by climate analysts that further torment is on the unforgiving horizon next year as the effects of global warming continue to take hold. Rains are forecast to be poor again, leading scientists with the Famine Early Warning Systems Network to warn that more than 35 million people across East Africa and Yemen are likely to require humanitarian assistance by May 2018.

Famine was largely held off this year thanks to the international humanitarian response, but can it be prevented again?

Dead donkey on outskirts of drought-hit village of Dhabarmamac
Photos from trip to Somaliland by Rob Hastings reporting on the East Africa drought with ActionAid and the DEC in July 2017, witnessing aid distribution in Dhabarmamac where 50 families are receiving food and water, and visiting an Internally Displaced People camp in Fadhigab where there is only enough aid supplies for 200 out of 500 families – both in the east of the country where the drought has been at its worst. rob.hastings@inews.co.uk
(Photo: Rob Hastings)

When i reported from the makeshift camps of Somaliland in the summer, meeting nomadic farmers who had lost their entire herds of animals, the effects of the drought were in stark evidence. People living in shelters outside the village of Dhabarmamac, after seeing their animals die of hunger and thirst, smiled with gratitude at aid deliveries of bags of rice and flour that would keep them alive, at least in the short term. But we found things were worse in Fadhigab, a remote camp where 500 families had congregated but where only enough supplies for 200 was arriving – leading to six children dying of malnutrition in the weeks before our visit.

Internally Displaced People have gathered in a camp in Fadhigab in the hope of finding water and receiving aid after their herds of livestock died and they were forced from their lands.
Photos from trip to Somaliland by Rob Hastings reporting on the East Africa drought with ActionAid and the DEC in July 2017, witnessing aid distribution in Dhabarmamac where 50 families are receiving food and water, and visiting an Internally Displaced People camp in Fadhigab where there is only enough aid supplies for 200 out of 500 families – both in the east of the country where the drought has been at its worst. rob.hastings@inews.co.uk
(Photo: Rob Hastings)

Across Somaliland and Somalia, 874,000 people have been forced from their lands and their homes to live like this, while others have also been badly affected in Kenya, Ethiopia and South Sudan. “Most of the displaced families have not yet been able to return to their homes, farms and pastures,” said Mike Noyes, head of humanitarian response at the British charity Action Aid. “The food crisis across has not gone away.” Saleh Saeed, chief executive of the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC), visited aid projects in the Puntland region of Somalia in September. “Throughout my trip I was repeatedly told that despite all the hard work, the situation is on a knife edge and the spectre of famine is looming if the rains do not arrive in the coming months,” he wrote afterwards. “Even with the rains, millions will remain in desperate need.”

DEC Chief Executive Saleh Saeed meets 7 year-old Nuur Abdcasis who is being treated for Acute Watery Diarrhea at the Burtinle health centre.

A study published in the journal Science last week warned that global warming will drive more people in conditions like these to become “climate refugees” and travel to Europe. Researchers examined asylum applications in the EU between 2000 and 2014 from 103 countries around the world. They found that applications rose the more a refugee’s country of origin’s average temperature diverged from 20C, the optimum temperature for growing crops.

Somaliland aid distribution in village of Dhabarmamac
Photos from trip to Somaliland by Rob Hastings reporting on the East Africa drought with ActionAid and the DEC in July 2017, witnessing aid distribution in Dhabarmamac where 50 families are receiving food and water, and visiting an Internally Displaced People camp in Fadhigab where there is only enough aid supplies for 200 out of 500 families – both in the east of the country where the drought has been at its worst. rob.hastings@inews.co.uk
(Photo: Rob Hastings)

Mustafa Ahmed Mohammed, Action Aid’s emergency co-ordinator in Somaliland, said families in the camps are hoping that a change in the country’s government after elections last month will result in a long-term rescue plan. “Some of them want to go back to their area and rear livestock again,” he said. “But some say they don’t want to go back because drought will kill their animals again, so they need an alternative and want to go to the major towns to start working there. But they do not have land or a house there. It’s difficult and that’s why they want assistance from the government.” International aid does go towards paying for resilience projects such as dams, helping farmers make the most of the rain they get to prepare for dryer times ahead. But in harsh conditions much of it has to be spent on the most urgent short-term help – and aid workers on the ground are worried that funds are drying up.

Earth dams near the Somaliland villages of Ijara and Boodhley have allowed farmers to settle and let their herds of animals drink here. (Photo: Rob Hastings)

Donations to the DEC’s East Africa appeal have topped £64m this year. Food parcels and vouchers have been provided to 350,000 people, while more than 170,000 received cash to buy food and other basic items. This complemented hundreds of millions spent by the UK’s Department for International Development – helping prevent a catastrophic loss of life. But British officials concede that without sustained recovery there is “a real risk of famine and mass mortality in the region in 2018”.

Internally Displaced People have gathered in a camp in Fadhigab in the hope of finding water and receiving aid after their herds of livestock died and they were forced from their lands.
Photos from trip to Somaliland by Rob Hastings reporting on the East Africa drought with ActionAid and the DEC in July 2017, witnessing aid distribution in Dhabarmamac where 50 families are receiving food and water, and visiting an Internally Displaced People camp in Fadhigab where there is only enough aid supplies for 200 out of 500 families – both in the east of the country where the drought has been at its worst. rob.hastings@inews.co.uk
(Photo: Rob Hastings)

Penny Mordaunt, the International Development Secretary, told i: “UK aid led the way in 2017 in responding quickly to the drought across East Africa to prevent famine in the region and saving millions of lives. “We know the outlook for 2018 is bleak, as poor rains continue to threaten crops and livestock, leaving families in desperate need of food, water and shelter. UK aid is already on the ground meeting those needs, delivering life-saving support. “We’re also helping the most vulnerable prepare for and cope better with the natural hazards that cause suffering and drive people to make treacherous journeys in search of a better life. Making communities more resilient to climate shock is the only way we will break this vicious cycle of drought and humanitarian crises.”

When i reported on the drought in Somaliland with a series of articles in August, revealing the effects that climate change are having on millions of people, donations to the DEC East Africa appeal more than doubled during the week of our coverage thanks to the generosity of our readers. The appeal remains open at dec.org.uk

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