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Horn of Africa: Drought Appeal

With the increasing risk of famine in the Horn of Africa due to severe and prolonged drought conditions, urgent life-saving and livelihood assistance is needed to avert a humanitarian catastrophe, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).

Duration 2m49s

Edit Version International

Video Type Video News Release (VNR)

Date 06/29/2022 8:50 PM

File size 397.76 MB

Unique ID UF2FX9

All editorial uses permitted

Production details and shotlist

UNFAO Source FAO Video

Shotlist TRT: 2:48

SOURCE: FAO

RESTRICTIONS: PLEASE CREDIT FAO ON SCREEN

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH /NATS

DATELINE: 29 JUNE 2022, ROME, ITALY / JANUARY 2022, BELETWEYNE, SOMALIA

SHOTLIST

JANUARY 2022, BELETWEYNE, SOMALIA

1. Wide shot, a family in front of a house

2. Wide shot, woman standing with animal carcass in foreground

3. Various shots, animal carcasses

4. Med shot, woman standing with animal carcass in foreground

29 JUNE 2022, ROME, ITALY

5. SOUNDBITE (English) Rein Paulsen, Director of the Office of Emergencies and Resilience, FAO:

“We are facing a catastrophic situation in the Horn of Africa. There are more than 18 million people who are acutely food insecure as a result of the drought. Just to be clear, this is a situation we have not seen in the last 40 years. Four failed rains— a fifth failed rain that's [coming up]— this really is catastrophic. We have large populations on the verge of famine facing starvation.”

JANUARY 2022, BELETWEYNE, SOMALIA

6. Med shot, animal carcass

7. Close up, animal carcass

8. Wide shot, man standing over an animal carcass

29 JUNE 2022, ROME, ITALY

9. SOUNDBITE (English) Rein Paulsen, Director of the Office of Emergencies and Resilience, FAO:

“There are millions of heads of cattle [and] livestock that have died in the Horn [of Africa]. The latest estimate is more than seven million livestock in the Horn of Africa— about a third of the livestock. This means that what vulnerable families rely on have died. What does that mean in practical terms? Poor, marginalized, farming families no longer have access to milk for their children, for example. This is the type of catastrophic situation we're facing.”

JANUARY 2022, BELETWEYNE, SOMALIA

10. Various shots, men gathering water from a well into a barrel

29 JUNE 2022, ROME, ITALY

11. SOUNDBITE (English) Rein Paulsen, Director of the Office of Emergencies and Resilience, FAO:

“FAO is responding in Somalia, in Djibouti, in Kenya, in Ethiopia to the drought. We have been there before the drought started, we implemented anticipatory actions but we urgently need more funding. This is about giving cash to vulnerable farming households so that they can buy key supplies during this lean season. This is about keeping their animals alive so they are not forced to migrate. This is about anticipating a little bit the chance that they will have to plant in the future.”

JANUARY 2022, BELETWEYNE, SOMALIA

12. Wide shot, man carrying a bucket with water

13. Med shot, man pouring water from bucket into a barrel

14. Close up, ladle stirring a soup

15. Wide shot, woman cooking in the open

29 JUNE 2022, ROME, ITALY

16. SOUNDBITE (English) Rein Paulsen, Director of the Office of Emergencies and Resilience, FAO:

“Our challenge at the moment in the Horn [of Africa] is a challenge primarily of funding. We have been ringing the alarm bells. We have a field presence in place. We know the programing approaches that we have developed over years and decades of responding. There just simply is not enough funding at the moment.”

JANUARY 2022, BELETWEYNE, SOMALIA

17. Various shots, two girls herding goats

Script With the increasing risk of famine in the Horn of Africa due to severe and prolonged drought conditions, urgent life-saving and livelihood assistance is needed to avert a humanitarian catastrophe, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).

SOUNDBITE (English) Rein Paulsen, Director of the Office of Emergencies and Resilience, FAO:

“We are facing a catastrophic situation in the Horn of Africa. There are more than 18 million people who are acutely food insecure as a result of the drought. Just to be clear, this is a situation we have not seen in the last 40 years. Four failed rains— a fifth failed rain that's [coming up]— this really is catastrophic. We have large populations on the verge of famine, facing starvation.”

Drought is among the most devastating of natural hazards – crippling food production, depleting pastures, disrupting markets and, at its most extreme, causing widespread human and animal deaths. Herders are often forced to seek alternative sources of food and water for their animals, which can create conflict between communities, competing for the little resources available.

SOUNDBITE (English) Rein Paulsen, Director of the Office of Emergencies and Resilience, FAO:

“There are millions of heads of cattle [and] livestock that have died in the Horn [of Africa]. The latest estimate is more than seven million livestock in the Horn of Africa— about a third of the livestock. This means that what vulnerable families rely on [to survive] have died. What does that mean in practical terms? Poor, marginalized, farming families no longer have access to milk for their children, for example. This is the type of catastrophic situation we're facing.”

As the crisis intensified, FAO launched a revised Rapid Response and Mitigation Plan, which exclusively focuses on four drought epicentres across the region: Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia.

SOUNDBITE (English) Rein Paulsen, Director of the Office of Emergencies and Resilience, FAO:

“FAO is responding in Somalia, in Djibouti, in Kenya, in Ethiopia to the drought. We have been there before the drought started, we implemented anticipatory actions but we urgently need more funding. This is about giving cash to vulnerable farming households so that they can buy key supplies during this lean season. This is about keeping their animals alive so they are not forced to migrate. This is about anticipating a little bit the chance that they will have to plant in the future.”

FAO is appealing for a total of USD 219 million. So far, the UN Agency has mobilized around USD 47 million, leaving a gap of USD 172 million.

While the funds received thus far will provide life-saving livelihoods assistance through cash and livelihood packages, including animal health and infrastructure rehabilitation to approximately 700 000 people, millions more can be reached if the plan is fully funded.

SOUNDBITE (English) Rein Paulsen, Director of the Office of Emergencies and Resilience, FAO:

“Our challenge at the moment in the Horn [of Africa] is a challenge primarily of funding. We have been ringing the alarm bells. We have a field presence in place. We know the programing approaches that we have developed over years and decades of responding. There is simply not enough funding at the moment.”

As of early May, the performance of the 2022 long rains season (March–May) in the region was poor, which represents an unprecedented fourth below-average rainy season for Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia resulting in dire impacts on food security. Djibouti’s rainfall pattern differs to those of the other three countries though rainfall there was also erratic in 2021.

The region is already facing high levels of food insecurity. At present, 16.7 million people are projected to be in Crisis (Integrated Food Security Phase Classification - IPC - Phase 3) or worse levels of high acute food insecurity due solely to the drought in Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia. In Kenya alone, 4.1 million people are likely to be highly food insecure through June 2022, over the 3.5 million initially projected over the same period.

Similarly, in Somalia, some 7.1 million people (close to half the population) now face crisis-level food insecurity or worse through at least September 2022, including 2.1 million people in Emergency (IPC Phase 4) and 213 000 people in Catastrophe (IPC Phase 5).

FAO and partners are advocating for better coordinated planning and programming. Urgent interventions include unconditional cash transfers to enable drought-affected households to cover basic expenditures on food, health and shelter; livelihood package distribution containing animal feed, vaccines, quality seeds, tools; restoring water holes; as well as trainings on good agricultural practices and nutrition.

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