Interview mit der Direktorin des UN World Food Programme Josette Sheeran, über die Hungerkatastrophe am Horn von Afrika. Auch das Thema ihres TED Talks heute.

Interview with executive director Josette Sheeran about the emerging famine around the Horn of Africa.

What is the situation right now?

The hunger crisis at the Horn is equally devastating and affects even more people than the disasters we have seen last year in Haiti and Pakistan. We expect that we need to scale up our food assistance at the Horn from 6 million to up to 10 million people very soon and our partners need to rapidly expand operations at the same time.

What factors caused the hunger crisis?

The devastating drought afflicting the Horn of Africa region has left millions at the mercy of hunger, threatening the livelihoods of farmers and pastoralists, and putting the lives of hundreds of thousands of children at risk. Data shows that in many regions of Kenya and Ethiopia this is the driest or second driest year since 1950.  In addition, desperate hunger is looming in the face of rising food prices and ongoing conflict in Somalia. Rising food prices mean that a 90-kilogram bag of maize, which cost 1,500 Kenyan shillings one year ago, now sells for 4,000 shillings - an increase of 160 percent.

What is needed most?

WFP is urgently scaling up the delivery of highly fortified, supplementary food products especially targeting the first 1000 days of life. We are working closely with governments and key partners, such as UNICEF, to ensure young lives are saved. As this devastating drought deepens, time is of the essence and WFP is appealing for urgent funding to cover a 40 percent shortfall in our US$477 milllion budget for operations in the Horn of Africa, including vital food for growing numbers of refugees in Kenya and Ethiopia. We also urge support for the longer term initiatives that will help communities living in the Horn of Africa to break out of the vicious cycle of drought and disaster. Such efforts in Uganda have helped to build resiliency there and require far less emergency action now.
Where do you purchase the actual aid?
Whenever possible, WFP is buying its food assistance on local markets. 80% of our purchased food is coming from developing countries. Purchases of almost US$ 1 billion a year contribute to agricultural investment in the developing world. By our “Purchase for Progress” (P4P) Programme we cooperate in this with more than 800.000 small scale famers worldwide, many of these from Horn of Africa countries such as Uganda, Kenya and Ethiopia.

What are the challenges doing aid work in a failed state like Somalia?

Security is the key challenge in countries like Somalia. WFP is one of the few agencies still present in the country, with 19 international and 145 national staff based in Somalia. WFP needed to withdraw from southern Somalia in 2010 because of threats to the lives of our staff.  However, we are hopeful that operating conditions will allow us to return to southern Somalia as we are deeply concerned about the humanitarian needs of civilians living there.

What role can citizens and governments from G20 countries play?

Resources are thin and at the very moment that we should be ramping up operations, we had to scale back some programmes in Ethiopia and Somalia. It is essential that we move quickly to break the destructive cycle of drought and hunger that forces farmers to sell their means of production as part of their survival strategy. The deficit in our operation is amounting to € 140 Mio. for the second half of 2010.  Protecting the brains and bodies of young children, and pregnant and lactating women is our top priority at the Horn of Africa, but we urgently need funding to do so.

Interview: Andrian Kreye Photos: AFP; UNWFP

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