Case Study Somalia Famine
Case study: Famine in Somalia
July 2011- Feb 2012
In 2011 there was extended drought in the horn of Africa and Somalia was the worse effected. The combination of this drought and the conflict that had been going on for 20 years cause people to leave the country in mass, around 3,000 people a day, to get to refugee camps in Kenya and Ethiopia.
Causes
Political:
Most of southern Somalia is controlled by the al-Shabab Islamist group, which refused international aid organisations, including the World Food Programme, entry to its areas two years ago, only lifting the ban last week.
Somalia is a failed state, this means there is a government but they don’t really have control over a majority of the country and without a stable government there would be no one to coordinate aid programmes as soon as the drought started to take hold which would have prevented many deaths
The US suspended aid due to fears that it would reach Al-Shabab
Economic/social:
Food prices for everyday food, such as sorghum, have tripled in price due to the conflict and the lack of supply.
Money would have been directed toward the conflict instead of agriculture
Malnourished people can’t work well due to tiredness, weakness and lack of concentration due to hunger, this means the bread winners of families wouldn’t be able to provide resulting in the malnourishment worsening
Population growth fertility rate of 6.28
Environmental:
There was severe drought in the horn of Africa in 2009 causing crops to fail and therefore animals to die (most people would have has all their money invested in their livestock leaving them with nothing), there was up to 90% animal mortality in some areas.
Strange weather conditions over the Pacific Ocean including a very strong La Nina caused great disruption to the seasonal weather.
Consequences
Political:
The famine cause the country to be in the spot light of the world press which drew attention to the political situation, as a result of this
July 2011- Feb 2012
In 2011 there was extended drought in the horn of Africa and Somalia was the worse effected. The combination of this drought and the conflict that had been going on for 20 years cause people to leave the country in mass, around 3,000 people a day, to get to refugee camps in Kenya and Ethiopia.
Causes
Political:
Most of southern Somalia is controlled by the al-Shabab Islamist group, which refused international aid organisations, including the World Food Programme, entry to its areas two years ago, only lifting the ban last week.
Somalia is a failed state, this means there is a government but they don’t really have control over a majority of the country and without a stable government there would be no one to coordinate aid programmes as soon as the drought started to take hold which would have prevented many deaths
The US suspended aid due to fears that it would reach Al-Shabab
Economic/social:
Food prices for everyday food, such as sorghum, have tripled in price due to the conflict and the lack of supply.
Money would have been directed toward the conflict instead of agriculture
Malnourished people can’t work well due to tiredness, weakness and lack of concentration due to hunger, this means the bread winners of families wouldn’t be able to provide resulting in the malnourishment worsening
Population growth fertility rate of 6.28
Environmental:
There was severe drought in the horn of Africa in 2009 causing crops to fail and therefore animals to die (most people would have has all their money invested in their livestock leaving them with nothing), there was up to 90% animal mortality in some areas.
Strange weather conditions over the Pacific Ocean including a very strong La Nina caused great disruption to the seasonal weather.
Consequences
Political:
The famine cause the country to be in the spot light of the world press which drew attention to the political situation, as a result of this