Here’s the new episode from our sister Al Jazeera English show Witness, “Hungry for Change” that just went online.  

Food is at the core of human survival - it can be at the heart of a family’s traditions and the key to a nation’s cultural identity. It has also been the source of war, conflict and devastation. Natural disasters can wipe out the food supply of an entire country but what happens when you live in the largest economy in the world, where food is ever abundant and yet you may still go to bed at night hungry?

Filmmaker’s statement about this episode on AJE. 

doctorswithoutborders: This mother and child—and this part of Mogadishu—show the toll of the overlapping political, security, and public health crises in Somalia, which have put an immense burden on women and children. Years marked by conflict, drought, and a profound lack of governance culminated in a massive humanitarian crisis in the second half of 2011, to which MSF responded by expanding its programs in Somalia and for the huge numbers of Somali refugees who sought aid in Kenya and Ethiopia. Photo: Somalia © Lynsey Addario/VII Here’s our Fault Lines episode that aired on Al Jazeera on November 28, 2011 on the current crisis and food policy impact in the region.
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doctorswithoutborders:

This mother and child—and this part of Mogadishu—show the toll of the overlapping political, security, and public health crises in Somalia, which have put an immense burden on women and children.

Years marked by conflict, drought, and a profound lack of governance culminated in a massive humanitarian crisis in the second half of 2011, to which MSF responded by expanding its programs in Somalia and for the huge numbers of Somali refugees who sought aid in Kenya and Ethiopia.

Photo: Somalia © Lynsey Addario/VII

Here’s our Fault Lines episode that aired on Al Jazeera on November 28, 2011 on the current crisis and food policy impact in the region.

This episode of Al Jazeera Fault Lines, “Horn of Africa Crisis: Drought Zone” aired last night at 2230 GMT/ 5:30p EST. 

The worst drought in sixty years has thrown more than 13 million people across the Horn of Africa into crisis.

In Kenya, those already living in the greatest precarity have been pushed even closer to the edge.

In the arid lands, deadly inter-tribal conflict is escalating as pastoralists compete over increasingly scarce resources, as climate change accelerates drought cycles.

As weather patterns become increasingly unpredictable, small scale farmers are struggling to grow enough food.

And in Nairobi’s poorest neighborhoods, residents are reduced to eating one meal a day, as the price of food spirals out of reach.

As world leaders discuss climate policy in Durban, Fault Lines travels through Kenya’s drought zone. In the second part of a two-part series, we ask how US policies intersect with drought and hunger, and how the United States is responding to the emergency in the Horn of Africa.

All episodes of Al Jazeera Fault Lines are on YouTube here. 

Source: youtube.com

Photos from tonight’s new Al Jazeera Fault Lines episode “Crisis in the Horn of Africa: Somalia’s Famine” airing at 2230 GMT (5:30p EST). Watch online.

Somali famine zones downgraded by UN

fyeahafrica:

Famine no longer exists in three of the worst-affected areas of Somalia following the intervention of aid agencies, the United Nations has said.

The UN’s Food Security and Nutrition Analysis Unit said improving conditions meant Bay, Bakool, and Lower Shabelle had been downgraded from famine zones.

But the UN says a quarter of a million people still face imminent starvation.

“Somalia still remains the world’s most critical situation,” a senior UN official told the BBC.

Three other areas, including the squalid camps in the capital, Mogadishu, remain in a state of famine.

BBC East Africa correspondent Will Ross says aid agencies have better access in the capital so it is surprising that the malnutrition and mortality rates have not dropped further there.

The UN says about $800m (£505m) has been raised for the humanitarian effort following the worst drought to hit East Africa in 60 years.

The rains have now come, but Mark Bowden, the UN’s humanitarian affairs co-ordinator, told the BBC the crisis was still very much on.

“It is good to see reductions in rates of malnutrition, some reductions in the rates of mortality,” he said.

“Even so, I have to say that Somalia still remains the world’s most critical situation. There are more people needing assistance than any other part of the world and the rates of malnutrition are still unacceptably high.”

More than $1bn in donations will be needed next year, the UN says.

(continue reading)

wfp: Public information officer Lydia Wamala knows there’s no easy recipe to follow working in the heart of the Horn of Africa crisis at Dadaab Refugee Camp. Sometimes, you just have to jump in and get your hands dirty. A lesson learned by this young refugee scooping flour for his fellow refugees. Wamala left Dadaab Wednesday after several weeks in one of the most gruelling work environments imaginable.  She leaves behind her own recipes of compassion and determination for the humanitarians following in her footsteps at Dadaab. Covered in flour or not, we’re pretty sure she takes the cake.  Hear about her life post-Dadaab and tweet your own message of thanks @lydiawamala.  New Fault Lines episodes on Monday at 5:30p EST looks at Somalia and food insecurity, famine, and drought. Watch online.
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wfp:

Public information officer Lydia Wamala knows there’s no easy recipe to follow working in the heart of the Horn of Africa crisis at Dadaab Refugee Camp. Sometimes, you just have to jump in and get your hands dirty. A lesson learned by this young refugee scooping flour for his fellow refugees.

Wamala left Dadaab Wednesday after several weeks in one of the most gruelling work environments imaginable.  She leaves behind her own recipes of compassion and determination for the humanitarians following in her footsteps at Dadaab.

Covered in flour or not, we’re pretty sure she takes the cake.  Hear about her life post-Dadaab and tweet your own message of thanks @lydiawamala. 

New Fault Lines episodes on Monday at 5:30p EST looks at Somalia and food insecurity, famine, and drought. Watch online.

Washington Post: U.S. intensifies its proxy fight against al-Shabab in Somalia

Roba Sharamo, the head of the Institute for Security Studies in Nairobi, said the United States may be sharing satellite imagery and other intelligence with Kenya. “Because of the political sensitivities around Somalia, the U.S. can’t necessarily say, ‘We are involved,’ ” he said.

Meanwhile, the United States has stepped up its aerial surveillance of Somalia. The Air Force is flying Reaper drones from the Seychelles, a tropical archipelago in the Indian Ocean, and from a newly expanded civilian airport in Arba Minch, Ethi­o­pia.

Read the entire WaPo article here. This Monday, November 28th at 5:30p EST, a new episode of Fault Lines looks at Somalia and how the drought, famine, and food insecurity is related to US policies. (Watch Al Jazeera English online.)

(Note: We’re sad to see the Washington Post Tumblr hasn’t been updated since May 2011, as we’d rather reblog than post. Link takes you to the article and the graphic.)

Source: Washington Post