Live
Audio Only
Below-normal rainfall levels are forecast by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) for Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia for October-December.
The international organization warned of worsening drought in the Horn of Africa region in the face of the fifth consecutive season without rain.
RELATED:
Extreme Weather in Britain Takes Grim Economic Toll
The WMO said that drought-affected areas in Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia are expected to receive significantly below normal rainfall levels through the end of the year.
According to the organization's spokesperson, Clare Nullis, this lack of rainfall will bring with it very tough consequences, since "in the equatorial areas of the Greater Horn of Africa, the October to December season brings up to 70 percent of the total annual rainfall, especially in eastern Kenya."
The director of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development's (IGAD) Climate Prediction and Applications Center (ICPAC), Guleid Artan, said, "In Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia, we are on the brink of an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe."
The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) has said that forecasts for October-December show high chances of drier-than-average conditions in the Horn of Africa as the worst drought in more than 40 years looks almost certain to persist. pic.twitter.com/pFNjYNmyDV
— Elmi Farah Boodhari (@BoodhariFarah) August 26, 2022
World Health Organization (WHO) data reveal that more than 80 million people in the countries of the region (Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan and Uganda) are food insecure.
In this regard, the World Food Program (WFP) said that the risk of famine caused by the fifth consecutive season without rains must be tackled immediately.
International agencies have said the drought in the Horn of Africa is the longest in 40 years. An emergency was declared last July given the situation of acute food insecurity suffered by over 50 million people in the region.
Newsletter
