Nearly 12 million people, a 10th of the population, are at risk of famine in Ethiopia’s drought-affected areas. Like its neighbours Somalia and Kenya, southern Ethiopia is enduring the Horn of Africa’s worst drought in decades. “Collectively, as communities, they have run out of coping mechanisms,” said Kate Maldonado from the international aid agency Mercy Corps, who recently visited southern Ethiopia’s Somali region. The population across much of southern Ethiopia’s lowlands relies overwhelmingly on its livestock, with diets supplemented by basic crops like maize. “We beg the government to save us from dying of hunger until God brings us rain.”

Source: Ethiopian News April 06, 2023 16:57 UTC