The UN's Food and Agriculture Organization, FAO, is appealing for almost 130 million US dollars to avoid an impending humanitarian catastrophe in the Horn of Africa, reports africanews. 

Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia are the most impacted countries with more than 20 million people facing some of the worst food security risks in 35 years.

East Africans are simultaneously dealing with rising prices for commodities (locally and globally) and with the loss of income from failed harvests and depleted livestock. 

The lack of rain is aggravated by locust invasions, armed conflicts, and the Covid-19 pandemic.

Women and girls are disproportionately affected as their sexual and reproductive health and rights are at risk; women who are on the brink of starvation are at greater risk of pregnancy-related complications, death, and disability. 

In its December 2021 report, the Famine Early Warning Systems Network declared: “A poor March-May 2022 season would result in an unprecedented (since 1981) sequence of four below-normal rainfall seasons… Even if March-April-May rains are normal, the region will experience lingering long-term rainfall deficits.” 

Accordingly, the FAO has put forward a rapid response and mitigation plan which aims to deliver help and save the livelihoods of an estimated 1.5 million people living in rural areas.