Famine+in+Africa

"We were hungry and couldn't get work. We traveled as a family but soon after we arrived my husband died, leaving me a widow and my children without a father. I just need help - anything." - Dainabo, a Somali mother of three who arrived in the refugee camps in Kenya after walking for 6 days.

media type="youtube" key="4WL45_6fI_Q" width="425" height="350" align="center"

Famine In Africa

__Defintion of famine: __
There are three main criteria declared by the United Nations:
 * 1) At least 20% of households are facing extreme food shortages with limited ability to cope
 * 2) More than 30% of the population is suffering from acute malnutrition
 * 3) Two adults or four children dying of hunger each day for every group of 10 000 people

Crisis continues in the Horn of Africa, where more than 13 million people are struggling to survive. All are in need of urgent, life saving assistance. Women, children and the elderly in Ethiopia, Kenya, and Somalia are the hardest hit from this crisis. Many people are so hungry that they are at a risk for starvation, and many have already passed as a cause. It is estimated that more than half of the deaths cause by starvation have occurred in children. In Somalia alone, the number of children requiring treatment for acute malnutrition nearly doubled in the second half of the past year.

This is the first time the UN has declared a famine since 1984. The speculated causes of this famine include local conflict, displacement, migration, and drought. In the seven most severely affected countries, nearly 16 million people are in urgent need of food. Also, most of the countries are also suffering from AIDS/HIV epidemics. It has been said that it is no coincidence, AIDS and famine are directly linked. This is through the role of African women, who provide most of the labour. As AIDS/HIV battles its way through these women, it takes away precious skills and experience that keeps families and communities strong. include component="comments" page="Famine in Africa" limit="10" Home      Taken from: <span style="background-color: transparent; display: block; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline;"> http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/story/2011/07/20/f-africa-famine-topix.html http://www.un.org/ecosocdev/geninfo/afrec/vol16no4/164food1.htm