PLAYERS AND STAKEHOLDERS.

AL-SHABAAB

Al-Shabaab is an Islamic organization that controls much of southern Somalia, excluding the capital, Mogadishu. It has waged insurgency against Somalia's transitional government since 2006. Al-Shabaab contains thousands of fighters and continues to grow because of Somalia's absent government. Even the clan war lords that were present before have proven willing to co operate. Foreign fighters have also travelled to Somalia to join the fight with the al-Shabaab. To begin with, the Western influence and help towards the al-Shabaab had only increased popular support. But, the 2011 wide spread famine has weakened the group. International Crisis Groups Horn of Africa analyst says, ''many in Somalia, even former supporters of the group, saw them as culpable in the crisis because they prevented aid groups from helping needy populations in time. The group has imposed Sharia law in some towns. hen it started its invasion in 2006, they used tactics such as suicide bombing, shootings and targeted assassinations to oppose the Somali government and what the al-Shabaab perceived as ''allies''; from aid groups, the Ethiopian military, to the African Union peacekeepers. In February 2008, the United States added the group to its list of foreign terrorist organizations. Al-Shabaab's broad aim is to eradicate clan divisions and the nation state. Also to reconstitute Somalia as a Islamic state under Sharia law, which worries its neighbors Kenya and Ethiopia, that both have huge Somali populations.

 "The only thing that's going to stabilize Somalia is when people in the South come to do what the people in the North have already done. Which is to reconcile among themselves and agree. Starting from a community base of pacts between each other that they're going to stop conflict and start to create administrations . It has worked in the North and it is spreading in the North." - Sally Healy of the British think tank Chatham House.

http://www.bar-kulan.com

PEOPLE OF AFRICA

The most impacted players of the famine would have to be the citizens of the Horn of Africa; because all the conflict and the drought not being their fault, they are the ones who have to suffer.  And what ends up happening to them? They are either killed, die of starvation and other complications or they flee the city hoping for a better life elsewhere, but the worst is that some are just stuck there. In July 2011, the UN officially declared famine in five regions of Somalia- Mogadishu, Afgoye, Middle Shabelle, Lower Shabelle and Southern Bakool. Tens of thousands of shallow graves litter these regions, so far some 29 000 children under the age of five are among the buried. In mid-August, 400,000 Somalis had made lucky escapes to now the worlds largest refugee camp in Dadaab, Northeastern Kenya. The UN Food and Agriculture organization estimates that up to 1500 people move daily across the border to the camp. The al-Shabaab is preventing aid from reaching 3.6 million people which is nearly half the population, while 1.4 million people are severely affected by the drought. CARE states "Somalia's malnutrition rate is fifty percent, the highest in the world." But that is just in Somalia alone, 12.4 million people in the Horn of Africa are in desperate need of food aid. Crop losses in Ethiopia and Eritrea are up to 75% and only the countires Nairobi, Mombasa and Kisuma have experienced rainfall; but it still wasn't enough. 

As of August 15 2011, only 48% of the 2.5 billion dollars needed has been received, there is an urgent need for the remaining 1.3 billion dollars to help the people of the Horn of Africa.

http://maritimers.ca/tags/horn-of-africa/

ORGANIZATIONS

I can't even begin to describe how many organizations that are involved in the famine in Africa. They have contributed so much and each organization is highly need; CARE, Oxfam, Red Cross, UNICEF, Doctors Without Borders, Valid Nutrition and the World Food Program. They are all a part of helping deliver aid to the people of the Horn of Africa. But organizations such as the World Food Program are banned from most of Somalia's regions because of the al-Shabaab. 

Here's a quick look into a few of the contributing organizations:

Doctors Without Borders/Medecins Sans Frontieres- MSF provides independent, impartial assistance in more than 60 countries to people whose survival is threatened by violence, neglect, or catastrophe, primarily due to armed conflict, epidemics, malnutrition, exclusion from health care or natural disasters. MSF also reserves the right to speak out to bring attention to neglected crises, challenge inadequacies or abuse of the aid system and to advocate for improved medical treatments and protocols.

http://multiculturalcookingnetwork.wordpress.com/

CARE- CARE has grown into one of the world's largest private humanitarian and development organization, reaching millions of people in over 80 countries around the world. CARE helps strengthen communities through an array of programs that work to create lasting solutions to the root causes of poverty. They focus on- Maternal child and health, climate change, emergency relief, HIV & AIDS, food security, and economic development.

www.care.ca

World Food Programme- WFP is the food aid arm of the United Nations system. Food aid is one of the many instruments that can help to promote food security, which is defined as access of all people at all times to the food needed for an active and healthy life. WFP will continue to: use food aid to support economic and social development, meet refugee and other emergency food needs, and the associated logistics support, promote world food security in accordance with the recommendations of the United Nations and FAO. The core policies and strategies that keep the WFP running are: to save lives in refugee and other emergency situations, to improve the nutrition and quality of life of the most vulnerable people at critical times in their lives and to help build assets to promote the self-reliance of poor people and communities, particularly through labour intensive works programmes. 

• 

  Drew Barrymore- WFP Ambassador- www.wfp.org 

THE CAUSES.

ABSENT GOVERNMENT.

Somalia, a country of 9.3 million, has been without a functioning government since 1991. So, it is no accident that Somalia has suffered the blunt of the current food crisis in the Horn of Africa. There has been many signed and forgotten peace treaties among rival warlords. There has also been repeated attempts to establish a central unity government since 2000. In 2004, through a peace negotiation in Kenya, the Transitional Federal Government was established. It was composed of unelected clan representatives and backed by Western powers. The government clashed with the Islamic Courts Union (ICU); a group heavily believing in Sharia law. A U.S. backed invasion by Ethiopian armed forces intervened the ICU's plans to overthrow and also helped prop up the transitional government. When Ethiopian troops withdrew in 2009, the transitional government was kept running for an extra two years, only thanks to the African Union. Al-Shabaab evolved from the Islamic Courts Union and began to take over in 2006, and everything just kept going downhill from there.

INFRASTRUCTURE AND CIVIL UNREST
The Deyr seasonal rains that has saved Somalia from its worst drought in 60 years has also brought in new challenges. Dangerous and inaccessible roads now carry water borne diseases such as cholera that might prove lethal to a population recovering from malnutrition. The rains have also not translated into food right away, a shortage of grain and staple goods are expected to persist in the next  year. Many analysts continue to question why this emergency was not prevented because the severe drought and food shortage was predicted last year. As well as rushing to the aid of the victims of the famine, many are still furious with African politicians for not doing more to prevent the crisis. With the Kenyan military trying to defeat the al-Shabaab comes consequences; the widening conflict threatens to increase internal displacement and hamper the delivery of aid. Susanna Nicol states that the Kenyan Military operation has not yet affected aid delivery which passes through Mogadishu and Afgoye.

GLOBAL WARMING.

Twelve million people dead, thirty thousand of them children. All because of this famine and you would think one of the causes would be more then just global warming. Well, you're wrong. Environmentalists say, the famine is a direct consequence of weather phenomena associated with climate change and global warming. El Nino and La Nina causes there to be a rainy season in Asia and Australia and droughts in the others, especially Africa; the worst effected country, Somalia. La Nina has caused below average precipitation in East Africa, but  the drought is now more extreme then usual, which caused the famine. Come rainy season, it may intensify the crisis; torrential* rain falling on extremely dry earth will wash away the most fertile soil which will make the food crisis even more dramatic. Environmentalists add that climate change, associated phenomena and bad agricultural practice such as overgrazing* are leading to increasing desertification across Africa. On the plus side, humanitarian organizations are buying cattle in poor condition to distribute the meat among the communities most affected by the famine. It's enough to calm the storm for a while, but permanent solutions need to be made!

*Torrential: Falling rapidly and in copious quantities.

*Overgrazing: Occurs when plants are exposed to intensive grazing for extended periods of time, or without sufficient recovery periods.

BACKGROUNDER.

Hope-- Hope in the face of difficulty. Hope in the face of uncertainty. The audacity of hope! In the end, that is God's greatest gift to us. A belief in things not seen. A belief that there are better days ahead.

-BARACK OBAMA, speech, 2004 DNC Convention

What do you really know about the African Famine Relief?  Yeah, I'm sure you've seen the commercials for donations and have taken a glance at the news, and you tend to put this issue in the back of your mind, right? Well, it is more of an important issue then you think. These are human beings, they are suffering from a famine, one of the worst in the world. The Horn of Africa, which consists of the countries Somalia, Ethiopia, Djibouti, and the Sudan, are suffering from severe conditions of famine that the area has seen in twenty years. Drought, high food costs and civil unrest are the few of many problems taking a toll on the people of these African countries. There are so many elements that contribute to this famine, it is like never ending events that just won't resolve. Drought conditions have made it hard for subsistence farmers to  raise the crops they need to feed their livestock or trade with other countries, and also, people are resulted in drinking contaminated water which leads to health problems. The lack of sufficient food or water for livestock have made them sick, dying or too thin to serve as food for trade. The Horn of Africa countries have lack of funding to develop drought-resistant crops or to employ people in other fields. See what I mean? But that doesn't mean we haven't tried. In 1992, the United Nations and United States sent ground forces into Somalia to try and restore safe movement of goods. The movement was successful for two years and starvation decreased. But in 1995, conflict had escalated and the UN withdrew forces after coming under attack. On a brighter note, there is a success story to end the starvation in Africa. The creation of Ready-To-Use-Food; a high calorie, protein rich, vitamin fortified "peanut goo" that comes in shelf stable single serving packets and requires no refrigeration! Many organizations such as the United Nations Children Fund and Doctors Without Borders have purchased the product. Valid Nutrition, a British non-profit company has opened up a factory in Malawi to produce the product and has contracted existing factories in Kenya and Zambia as well. Organizations such as the United Nations, CARE and the Red Cross are fighting hard to end this famine, but with great difficulty. To end it once and for all, you can not only resolve just one issue, it has to be all of them; the environment, the agriculture, the government, the civil unrest and the economy. A recent but hopeful study has shown that Africa can supply its own food needs, and even become an exporter within a generation!

"Horn of Africa." Alliance For Peacebuilding. Web. 05 Dec. 2011

My main focus will be on Somalia, since it has the most conflict. On July 20, 2011 the UN officially declared a famine in Somalia, where eleven million people faced hunger and malnutrition. I will go in depth on the challenges Somalia faces; from drought to an absent government to the al-Shabaab rebel group. Stay tuned!

Click for this intriguing interview with K'naan!

"African Success : Biography of K'naan WARSAME." African Success : People Changing the Face of Africa. Web. 07 Dec. 2011. 

"The fact is that this generation -- yours, my generation ... we're the first generation that can look at poverty and disease, look across the ocean to Africa and say with a straight face, we can be the first to end this sort of stupid extreme poverty, where in the world of plenty, a child can die for lack of food in it's belly."

-BONO, 2004 PENN Address