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Fourteen million face starvation in east Africa, Oxfam

Article published on the 2008-07-24 Latest update 2008-07-24 12:28 TU

Kenyan women of the north eastern province of Mandera watch their dying cattle(Photo: AFP)

Kenyan women of the north eastern province of Mandera watch their dying cattle
(Photo: AFP)

More than 14 million people across east Africa are in urgent need of food aid. Oxfam International launched an urgent appeal today for donations to support its emergency work. The charity warns that millions of people in Ethiopia, Uganda, Djibouti and Kenya are being pushed "towards severe hunger and destitution".

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Ethiopia is the worst affected with 4.6 million people needing emergency food assistance, the charity says. 

A combination of drought conditions and increasing food prices is causing the crisis.   

In Somalia, the cost of rice increased by 350 per cent between the beginning of 2007 and May 2008. This, along with drought and mass displacement put 2.6 million people  - 35 per cent of the population - at risk.  

In drought-stricken parts of Ethiopia, 75,000 children suffer from acute malnutrition.

In Kenya, where caterpillars have damaged almost 70 per cent of crops and pastures in northern districts, 1.2 million are at risk of starvation.   

300,000 in Uganda's Karamoja Region and 130,000 people in Djibouti.

Oxfam officials say that an already serious situation has been made worse by a combination of drought, conflict and rising food prices.

Earlier this week, UN agencies including the World Food Programme and the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs also warned of disaster for millions if aid is not rapidly forthcoming.