The World Food Programme (WFP) says it is scaling up operations to support millions going hungry and “cannot wait” for assistance as the threat of famine looms in the Horn of Africa.

The region is in the grip of a historic drought brought on by four consecutive failed rains.

“The crisis has left some 22 million people across Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia struggling to find enough to eat, with numbers expected to rise.

“Livestock are dying, and there are critical shortages of water and food. More than a million people have fled their homes and are now living in crowded camps, where humanitarians are scrambling to meet the overwhelming needs,’’ WFP said in a statement on Friday.

According to the statement, WFP chief David Beasley on Thursday wrapped up a visit to Somalia, where the risk of famine is high, with more than seven million people, nearly half the population, being acutely food insecure and 213,000 already facing famine-like conditions.

Mr Beasley travelled to the southern city of Baardheere, where he met families, including malnourished children and their mothers, who were forced to leave home and travel long distances to seek humanitarian aid amid ongoing conflict.

“There is still no end in sight to this drought crisis, so we must get the resources needed to save lives and stop people plunging into catastrophic levels of hunger and starvation,” he said.

WFP said the drought is expected to continue in the coming months as a fifth poor rainy season is forecast later this year.

The agency is doing everything possible to support the most vulnerable people but urgently requires around $418 million over the next six months to meet the increasing needs.

Meanwhile, WFP is focused on using available funds to increase assistance in the worst-hit areas. It targets 8.5 million people across the region, up from 6.3 million at the start of the year.

Relatedly, $10 million has been allocated from the UN’s Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) to ramp up the drought response in Somalia.

UN Humanitarian Coordinator Martin Griffiths warned on Friday that time is running out for people in the country.

“If we don’t step up in force now, it’ll run out, and the malnourished children are likely to die first,” he said.

CERF has so far contributed $41 million to the drought response in Somalia this year.

The funding has been used to support food and nutrition interventions and deliver healthcare, water and sanitation, protection, shelter, and education to needy people. 

(NAN)