The director of the US development aid agency, Samantha Power, pledged more than a billion dollars on Monday to try to prevent famine in the Horn of Africa, and urged other countries, particularly China, to do more to combat the food crisis deepened by the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The head of USAID has become alarmed that war and climate change are exacerbating world hunger, after the Covid pandemic “wiped out” a decade of progress.
“Today we face something even more devastating, as not only tens of millions of people face hunger, but many of them are also at risk of dying,” he said at the Center for Strategic and International Studies research center.
Serious situation in Somalia and Kenya
The situation is particularly dire in Somalia, Ethiopia and Kenya, according to Samantha Power, as the Horn of Africa is set to experience its fifth consecutive drought this year.
The US official, who announced she would visit the Horn of Africa this weekend, said at least 1,103 children had died there and some 7 million were severely malnourished.
He said the $1.18 billion US aid would include emergency food, including sorghum, as well as a peanut-based supplement for malnourished children and veterinary care for dying livestock.
“Now we need others to do more, before a famine comes, before millions more children find themselves on a razor’s edge,” he urged.
Food prices around the world have soared due to the war in Ukraine, a major exporter of wheat. Millions of tons of grain are blocked in Ukrainian ports by the presence of Russian warships and mines, laid by Kyiv to defend its coasts.
Source: BFM TV
