On the final day of the World Summit onFood Security in Rome, UN humanitarian aid agencies addressed the food crisisin East Africa and the Horn. Millions ofpeople there are in need of emergency food assistance.
"EastAfrica and the Horn are currently are currently the most critical area in the world that we aremonitoring and reporting on," says Henry Josserand, chief of the Food andAgriculture Organization's Global Information and Early Warning Service.
Thehardest hit countries include Sudan ? especially the south ? Ethiopia, Eritrea,Somalia, Kenya, Djibouti, Uganda and Tanzania.
"Thereare over 20 million people in this part of the world, who are currentlyrequiring emergency assistance because of drought...displacement of populationsdue to insecurity and conflict and because of high food prices," Josserandsays.
"Thisregion of the world normally produces about 32 million tons of cereals peryear. We expect that this year theregion?will produce much less," he says.
Evenin the best of times, says Josserand, this region imports between six and sevenmillion tons of cereals per year and receives 1.5 million tons of food aid peryear.
Buyingfood, he says, can be a "big financial drain for countries, which are alreadypoor."
"Weestimate that the import bill for Africa, for example, is on the order of $10.5billion a year. And for East Africa andthe Horn this year we are looking at between three and four billion dollarsworth of imports because of the drought?crop failure and because of the lack ofproduction because people are displaced," he says.
In2007 and 2008, international food prices soared, reaching record highs andsparking riots in many countries. Whileprices have fallen in many countries around the world, not so in sub-SaharanAfrica.
"Infact, it is in Africa and in East Africa that they have remained thehighest. Today," he says, "maize pricesin East Africa are still twice as high as they were in 2007."
UNagencies also say poverty and the global economic downturn are at the heart ofthe food crisis, including a sharp drop in remittances.
Some groups are criticizing thesummit, saying participants failed to take strong action to reduce hungeraround the world. ActionAid, forexample, says there were no major breakthroughs in new ideas or funding.