More than 1.5 million farmers and herders affected by drought in the Horn of Africa need "urgent assistance" to avoid "a famine crisis," the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) warned today.

According to the FAO, $138 million in "urgent funding" is needed for a region "already prone to food insecurity" and where, after three years of poor rains, a plague of locusts in 2020-21, and the effects of the covid-19 pandemic have stretched the coping capacity of rural communities to the limit, undermining their agricultural productivity.

In Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia, the most affected countries, projections indicate that about 25.3 million people will face a serious food insecurity crisis by mid-2022, a situation that, if materialized, will place the Horn of Africa among the most fragile regions of the world from a food point of view, FAO warned in a statement quoted by Lusa.

"We know from experience that supporting agriculture at times like this has a huge impact: when we act quickly and at the right time to get water, seed, feed, veterinary care, and the money needed by rural families at risk, hunger catastrophes can be avoided," said Rein Paulsen, FAO's Director for Emergencies and Resilience, quoted in the statement.

"The right time is now. We urgently need to support pastoralists and farms in the Horn of Africa immediately, because the cycle of the seasons waits for no one," he added.

"The clock is already ticking," Paulsen warned, noting that "the shortage that has just begun is characterized by limited grazing opportunities for grazing families, and livestock will need nutritional and veterinary support."

"Families dependent on agriculture, on the other hand, need to have seeds and other supplies on hand to start the planting season," he added.

FAO's drought response plan aims to support 1.5 million people from the most vulnerable rural populations in Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia.

If fully funded, it would produce up to 90 million liters of milk and up to 40,000 tons of basic food crops in the first half of 2022, putting more than a million people in security for at least six months.

Source Lusa