Horn of Africa Situation Report No. 19

January 2013 – Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan

Conditions across the Horn of Africa have improved,  however  a  crisis  food  security situation   continues   in   areas   of   South Sudan, Ethiopia, Somalia and Kenya.  12.1 million people remain food insecure1. The following  number  of  people  are  affected per country:

 Poorer  households  throughout  the  Horn are   still   recovering   from   the   previous season’s  poor crop production and loss of livestock.    Many    families   remain   in   a precarious food security situation.

A new food security alert has been issued for   southeast  Kenya   due   to  poor   and

uneven rain distribution during the October to December rainy season. Affected households are in a “crisis” food

security situation.

 LATEST SITUATION                                                                                                                                                  

• The International Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC- Norwegian Refugee Council) has warned that the humanitarian community in Kenya is not prepared for a mass-scale human displacement (with the exception of the Kenya Red Cross) should violence occur during the March 2013 Elections.

1    Includes Greater Horn with Djibouti and South Sudan

• Somalia remains the most affected country with 2.1 million people2  in need of urgent food assistance. Ongoing conflict, population displacement (1.1 million internally displaced), limited access for humanitarian agencies and the disruption of economic activities compound the food security situation in the country.

International Appeal for Humanitarian Assistance

• The 2012 funding for the Horn of Africa reached 60 percent of the requested amount (US$ 1.51 billion out of US$ 2.51 billion). The status of funding per country was as follows: Djibouti: 47 percent; Kenya: 73 percent; Somalia: 58 percent; Ethiopia: 47 percent.
• For 2013, Consolidated Appeals include: Djibouti – US$ 1.6 million; Kenya – US$ 743 million; Somalia – US$1.3 billion; South Sudan – US$ 1.16. A consolidated appeal has not yet been registered for Ethiopia.

Situation Analysis

Moving into 2013, humanitarian efforts remain needed to ensure longer term resilience to disasters. Support to regional agencies most involved with developing a long-term response with affected populations is critical. These agencies include the African Union, Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), European Union, United Nations and the African Development Bank.

A renewed focus on the effects of climate change is important to highlight how a global temperature change will affect households in the disaster recovery phase. Even the slightest shock could put them quickly into a crisis food security situation as their coping mechanisms are limited.

 COUNTRY BY COUNTRY SITUATION                                                                                                                         

Djibouti

• 70,000 people across the country are affected by a stressed level of food insecurity, especially in the northwest pastoral zones. Food assistance programs from the UN World Food Programme are able to meet most of the deficit however.
• Even with favorable rains since November 2012, many households will continue to rely on food assistance.
  • Household coping strategies, such as the production and sale of charcoal in the Southeast, help to meet food demands  but are not sustainable. In this area, along with the pastoral zones, a crisis food security threat is possible through March 2013.
  • Urban areas around Djibouti City are also affected due to high food prices. Poorer urban households will remain at crisis levels of food insecurity well into 2013.

Ethiopia

• 3.8 million people are in need of emergency food assistance.
  • The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs is reporting that water resources are rapidly drying up in the lowland areas of East and West Harerge zones of the Oromia region. This is as a result of poor seasonal rains and affects 400,000 people.
• The local Government will organize water to be trucked in to the affected towns and villages.
  • In the Tigray region, eight districts are also experiencing water shortages due to poor rains putting 179,000 people at risk.
• Fortunately, for the majority of the country, normal seasonal harvests are expected.

Kenya

• 2.5 million people are food insecure, especially in the southeastern and coastal regions. The majority of humanitarian  assistance is focused on refugees, small-scale farmers and pastoralists in the southeastern and coastal areas.

2  Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) Food Security and Nutrition Analysis Unit

• The October-December rains were unevenly distributed and below average which may, in turn, add to increased food insecurity in the marginal farming zones of Kitui, Mwingi, Makueni and Taita Taveta Districts (FEWSNET).
• Harvests in the affected areas will most likely be below average and the central and south-central zones remain in a crisis food security situation (see map).
• Maize prices remain high which is limiting household food access. Combined with a lack of casual labor opportunities, many households throughout the country remain vulnerable to any type of disaster shock.
• Livestock productivity has actually improved in the pastoral areas which has led to increased market prices and improved  the availability of milk. In marginal pastoral regions, the number of children at risk for malnutrition has decreased.
• The projected outlook for the marginal areas is for a poor maize harvest along with deteriorating food availability throughout January.
• Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has expressed concern from the recent Kenyan Government decree which would send  thousands of Somali refugees in urban areas to the camps in Dadaab. Any new influx could worsen the already tense situation in the camps which already host 96,000 refugees. Overall, Kenya hosts

566,487 refugees; most of whom are from Somalia fleeing drought and conflict.

Somalia

• The latest Food Security and Nutrition Analysis Unit report maintains 2.1 million people are still in need of immediate humanitarian assistance. 236,000 children are acutely malnourished.
• The Food Security Cluster (made up of local and international humanitarian organizations) assisted more than 4.2 million people during 2012. Two million people also benefit from livelihood assets through safety net interventions plus seeds and farming tools.
• Following  the  FEWSNET  and  US  Geographic  Survey  of  Somalia  rainfall,  it  was  found  that  rainfall performance was mixed in terms of distribution and spatial coverage. Rainfall in the central, southern and northeastern regions was above normal. Other regions, especially the Northwest, remained dry.
• The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) estimates that 1.1 million people remain internally displaced due to conflict and drought conditions and another 1 million are living as refugees outside of the country.
• Displaced people in the country remain most at risk and the ongoing conflict situation in many areas of

Somalia is compounding the situation.

South Sudan

• Overall, 3 million people are still in need of immediate humanitarian assistance.
  • Humanitarian agencies  have  expressed  concern over  attacks  in late  December  in Kiir  Adem  near  the northern border areas of Bahr el Ghazal. Initial figures of 700 displaced are being reported. Further violence in the region could cause further displacements. In 2012, more than 174,000 people were displaced due to conflict.
  • Currently,  160,000  refugees  remain  in  the  country,  mostly  from  the  Democratic  Republic  of  Congo

(UNHCR).

WORLD BANK RESPONSE KEY ACTIONS

The World Bank’s response to the drought is built on a strong collaboration with the national governments of the region as well as the U.N. agencies, the African Union, the IGAD, the European Union, International Federation of Red Cross Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), regional and non-governmental organizations.

 The World Bank is supporting IGAD for a regional disaster resilience and sustainability program that aims to increase the  Authority’s capacity for critical support to member states for drought and disaster management planning and capacity building, through a grant from the Global facility for Disaster Recovery and Reconstruction (GFDRR).

The Bank has worked with the UNHCR to support health and nutrition in refugee camps through a US$30 million Horn of Africa Emergency Health & Nutrition Project.  The Bank is also working with the UN Food and Agricultural Organization  (FAO)  to  support  drought  relief  and  recovery  through  the  Drought  Management  &  Livelihood Protection Project. The project is funded through a US$9 million grant from GFDRR (US$5 million) and State and Peace Building Fund (US$4 million).

Overall (some information repeated since last update for information purposes):

• The short term response phase is now over. To date, an estimated US$233 million has been disbursed from 15 projects; US$190 million for rapid response (9 projects which are now complete and funds fully disbursed) and US$43 million (6 projects) for medium to long term recovery.
• The rapid response phase provided immediate benefits to the most vulnerable populations.  In Ethiopia, the

Productive Safety Nets Project II promoted enhanced food consumption for food insecure populations.

• The  Regional Emergency Health & Nutrition Project  provided  immediate health and nutrition support  for refugee populations in countries bordering Somalia.
• In Ethiopia, the triggering of the contingency risk financing facility enabled improved food consumption for 6.5 million chronic and 0.3 million transitory food insecure people.
• The Kenya Health Sector Support Project, which is currently ongoing, is the first WB project supporting large scale nutrition interventions targeting the resident populations in Kenya.

Country-specific

Ethiopia:

• 70 federal and regional government staff received training in the Post Disaster Needs Assessment methodology in June 2012. This training included a ‘hands-on’ learning experience and field trip to drought affected Boset Woreda (district). This capacity building exercise enhanced the government’s capacity to conduct drought and other disaster related impact assessments.
• US$70 million of CRW resources were disbursed to the Productive Safety Net Program to replenish the risk financing facility of the program.

Kenya:

• Kenya Agricultural Productivity and Agribusiness Project: drought related activities continue to be scaled up in the identified districts.
• Kenya Agriculture Drought Recovery Project: this project is in response to the continuing drought situation.
• Kenya Cash Transfer for Orphans & Vulnerable Children: the project is now likely to be active until December

2013 assisting distressed population throughout extended drought situation.

• Health Sector Support Project: the project is ongoing and is one of the first projects supporting large scale nutrition interventions targeting the resident populations who are equally vulnerable compared to refugees in the camps.