Humanitarian Cases in Africa Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Humanitarian Cases in Africa - Essay Example Several different causes may have played a vital role in the stimulation of this famine, most prominent being lack of rain and inability of the Government officials to provide sufficient funds to the agricultural and irrigation schemes of the country. Out of the four countries majorly affected, the most affected one is Somalia, where at least 6 out of 10,000 children are dying everyday due to inadequate amount and poor quality of edible material. (BBC News 2011) The question here rises as to why is Somalia most affected by this nature’sdisaster? According to senior journalists and analysts, Somalia had become a failed state since its establishment collapsed in the earlier 1990s. Adding to the situation, the major areas of the country including Southern, Central and the famine affected areas are under the control of a militant group called â€Å"al-Shabab† which is said to have links with â€Å"al-Qaeda†. People of Somalia, after two decades of non-stop struggle for their land, were already in astate where they fought for their very existence everyday. And when one thinks that what would be worse than this, the al-Shabab group forces out most of the Western Agencies from the areas under their control in 2009, which were mostly working for the aid of the aboriginals.(BBC News 2011; Ross 2011) A major portion of the people living in countries of Somalia, Ethiopia and Kenya, are pastoralists and nomads. They are mostly dependent on earning from livestock. But the intensity of the famine is so severe that even their drought-resistant camels also could not bear this famine and died. And their farms will now take many years of rain to recover to their previous state. The famine-hit areas of Somalia mostly receive rain in the month of November and the people who fled the famine are unlikely to return any time soon to plant crops in their fields. A prediction has been made by The Famine Early System Network that thewhole of Somalia is likely to experience a famine in the upcoming months.The area of Lower Shebelle which was considered as the bread-basket of Somalia has also been affected severely by the drought which forced many of the famers and businessmen to find an alternate for their home. (BBC News 2011) It has been reported that some 10,000 people have entered in the city of Mogadishu during the last two months with the plans of aiding the natives by several methods possible. While at the same time, danger and the fear of the al-Shabab group has made it difficult for the aiding agencies to perform their functions effectively. However it has been said that al-Shabab group has been escorted out of this city but still some armed members of this group can be seen patrolling certain areas. (Ross 2011) African pastoralists are among the most famine-vulnerable groups in the modern world. The long-term results of the famine crisis can be great or small, depending, in part, the form of relief. When famine strikes, the first problem which may arise is related to the transportation of food to the affected people. Can ways be found to offer relief to the pastoralists who discourage the formation of camps? For pragmatic reasons, donors or governments must institute food-for-work projects, how well can these involve the affected people in decisions regarding the o bjectives and beneficiaries of work? Where the traditional political leadership is credible and respected, can relief be administered in a manner which is more sensitive to such structures, even to the point of simply giving the relief food to the elders to distribute in a local fashion? The types of long-term development into which agencies and governments often drift