Dr Chimimba David Phiri: Yes, the drought is getting worse; but this is what farmers should do
Dr Chimimba David Phiri, the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) sub-regional coordinator for Eastern Africa.
An unprecedented drought has hit Eastern Africa following failed rains in at least four seasons. Millions of lives are at risk in several parts of Kenya, Somalia and Ethiopia. Farming activities have also been disrupted. Dr Chimimba David Phiri, the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) sub-regional coordinator for Eastern Africa, spoke to Michael Oriedoon the drought situation, the institution’s short-term response and the long-term solutions.
An unprecedented drought has hit Eastern Africa following failed rains in at least four seasons. Millions of lives are at risk in several parts of Kenya, Somalia and Ethiopia. Farming activities have also been disrupted. Dr Chimimba David Phiri, the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) sub-regional coordinator for Eastern Africa, spoke to Michael Oriedo on the drought situation, the institution’s short-term response and the long-term solutions
Describe the current drought situation in the region and what that means to food security?
The situation is dire in the whole of the Horn of Africa particularly in Kenya, Ethiopia and Somalia. The three countries have not had good rains in four consecutive seasons (years). This is the worst drought in over 70 years. We have not had a situation where rains fail for four seasons in the last 40 years. Up to 19 million people are at risk of starvation in the region.
If the next rains fails, we will have 26 million people facing starvation. There is chronic undernourishment, affecting 123 million people in Eastern Africa. These are people who do not have sufficient food or eat less than three meals in a day. We are really worried, particularly for Somalia, where over 200,000 people, including children are on the verge of famine.
What is driving this drought?
Basically this is due to lack of sufficient rainfall. But let’s start from the beginning, the oceans are highly polluted and there is an increase in greenhouse gases that have led to global warming, what is affecting the weather patterns. In terms of the strength of the drought itself, this is severe. We are struggling to get the funding we need as UN and FAO. We have 52 per cent deficit in funding to support affected communities.
How can farmers build resilience to continue producing food despite such challenges?
Governments should not take the drought as something that will come and go away. There will always be cyclic weather effects; if we don’t have drought, we will have floods. Farmers should, therefore, be aware of climate-smart techniques. Every year will be a bad year. They should better manage soils using organic manure, embrace practices like conservation agriculture and reforestation – to create better micro-environment to attract more rainfall.
If we have whole communities doing these, we shall have good environment. Building small sand dams and ponds to harvest water also helps. Pastoralists also need to be supported to grow their own food and fodder to stop relying on rains. The technologies are there; they should be diffused for adoption and consistent use.
FAO made an appeal for increased donations weeks ago, noting that there is 52 per cent funding gap, what is the response so far?
We have asked for $219 million (26.4 billion shillings) to help five million households for both short and long-term mitigation measures. We have received a small percentage of this, and we hope the donor countries and organisations will respond. We know the situation of funding across the world is tricky but we hope they will give us support despite challenges like the Russia and UK war as well as Covid-19.
In 2011, the world community came together after the famine in Somalia that killed 250,000 people. The world said never again. The current trajectory is that if we don’t get funding that we need, the deaths in Somalia can exceed the 250,000. There are people who need support now to save lives. We hope partners will take this seriously. FAO has done two appeals, the first was $172 million, we received only a small portion that is why we made the second appeal of $219 million.
What are the short-term mitigation measures you are taking despite the funding gaps?
We have re-purposed some of our resources to save lives as we wait for donor response. My take is that we have to find a concrete mechanism to prevent and not to respond. We have to work with our resource partners to agree on the methodology. We also get embarrassed when ask for resources every time.
Your message to governments across the region
They have signed various commitments including Malabo and UN development agenda for zero hunger by 2030. The point is that they signed these agreements thus they have taken responsibility that in their countries, there would be zero hunger. My impression is that we are far in terms of food security. Political leaders need to do a little more to move away from negative agenda.
They should live to the agreements. We also appeal to the farming communities as well as researchers. We have the tools to adopt to climate change, we should follow them, not wait for a crisis to happen to respond.
To farmers who are on the brink of giving up due to the many challenges, what is your word to them?
Agriculture is a source of livelihood for many families; they need to adapt to climate change. We rely on farmers for the good health of the world, thus, their role is the most blessed. They should not stop farming.
