Drought and famine threaten life for nomadic Somali herders. Twenty million people in the war-torn countries of Yemen, South Sudan and Somalia, as well as drought-stricken neighbors like Ethiopia are at risk.

As drought grips parts of Kenya, cattle theft has become increasingly violent, with people forced to take refuge from the gun-toting bandits who steal livestock.

More than 20 million people in four countries are at risk of starvation in the coming months. But the global response to the emergency has been lacking, both from governments and from private citizens.

It’s shocking that so little heed is being paid to what the United Nations says is the worst humanitarian crisis since 1945. The danger that about 20 million people in four countries will suffer famine in the coming months, and that hundreds of thousands of children will starve to death.

The number of people severely food insecure is expected to rise further to four million according to UNICEF and FAO estimates that 42 percent of households in Turkana report skipping days without food.

A Fierce Famine Stalks Africa.
Today six million people are at risk of starvation in Somalia, and another fourteen million in South Sudan, Nigeria, and Yemen.

The famines are coming as a drought sweeps across Africa and several different wars seal off extremely needy areas. United Nations officials say they need a huge infusion of cash to respond. So far, they are not just millions of dollars short, but billions.

Drought has impacted on education. UNICEF reports that 79,807 children in Somalia are out of school and 175 schools in Ethiopia have closed due to drought.

Without collective and coordinated global efforts, "people will simply starve to death" and "many more will suffer and die from disease", Stephen O'Brien, the UN under secretary-general for humanitarian affairs, told the Security Council in New York.

Right now most of the country is facing Phase 3 crisis levels with some small conflict-prone areas around Baydhabo already in Phase 4 emergency. In many ways, the current situation mirrors that of the 2010-2012 drought that ultimately created a famine throughout the country.

"There are fifty thousand people on the brink of famine in the region, on a scale from 1 to 5, where 5 is famine, they are already at level 4", FAO director general Graziano da Silva warned.

"The elders told us this is the worst drought in 50 years," he said. "There is no pasture for livestock and people cannot sell their livestock, because there is no sellable livestock."