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Major hunger crisis in East Africa

GENEVA: A major hunger crisis in East Africa will last until at least July, the International Red Cross said on Wednesday.

Up to 7 million persons in Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia are affected by the drought, with the situation in the latter particularly severe because of ongoing lawlessness in the country, said the Red Cross.

``The crisis that we are witnessing cannot be expected to end until July,'' said Jacques de Maio, the Geneva-based ICRC's head of operations for the Horn of Africa region. ``The places where this is occurring would be a challenge to any Government on earth.''

The United Nations says more than 11.5 million persons will require food assistance in the next six months. In its latest report on Somalia, the United Nations said that 1.7 million persons — 710,000 of them experiencing an acute food shortage — needed food assistance of some kind in addition to the 410,000 refugees who depend on food aid.

The crisis could last beyond July if the region's rainy season, starting in March or April, fails to deliver enough water to help the harvest, the ICRC said.

Somalia has been without an effective central government since 1991, when warlords overthrew the Government and divided the country into rival, clan-based fiefdoms.

``The drought is making an already dire situation worse for the majority of people in southern Somalia,'' said Pascal Hundt, the ICRC Somalia delegation chief.

``This country is facing, for the last 15 years, a violent and protracted conflict.''

Up to 80 per cent of cattle are expected to die in some areas in the south of the country, severely limiting people's food sources and purchasing power, as they will be unable to sell livestock to buy cereals, Mr. Hundt explained.

``This will depend a lot on the outcome of the next rainy season,'' he added. — AP

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