The Horn of Africa… when life wrestles with cascading crises

Millions of people in the Horn of Africa are suffering from severe food shortages amid insecurity—one of many overlapping crises afflicting the African continent.

Pastoralist communities are especially hard-hit by food scarcity and skyrocketing prices, and their hardship has worsened sharply with the drought that struck the region.

Between 2020 and 2023, the drought caused millions of herders to lose their crops and livestock. Governments and international agencies had to mount emergency responses, diverting resources away from long-term development.

All this is unfolding as the region grapples with interlinked challenges: political instability, internal fragmentation, climate change, food insecurity, weak infrastructure, fragile governance, and geopolitical rivalries.

Reports note that “political instability is one of the main barriers to economic progress, especially in Ethiopia and Somalia. In Ethiopia, conflicts in Tigray and Amhara and with the Oromo Liberation Army have destroyed infrastructure, disrupted trade, and drained public finances.”

In Somalia, “warlords and extremist groups have fostered a largely informal economy, eroding investor confidence and forcing the government to focus on short-term survival.”

Heavy loss of life

In a report published in 2024, Human Rights Watch said Horn of Africa governments faced rampant wartime atrocities and widespread humanitarian crises throughout 2023 with scant international support. Unaddressed historical grievances and impunity for grave crimes encouraged broad abuses against civilians.

It stressed that “conflict in both Sudan and Ethiopia had a major impact on civilians, causing heavy loss of life, the destruction of property, and mass displacement. Rather than prioritize these crises, influential governments, UN bodies, and regional organizations repeatedly sought short-term gains instead of rights-based solutions.”

The report added: “Conflict and climate-related events displaced millions across the region. Fighting in Sudan forced more than 1.2 million people to flee to neighboring countries—on top of refugees already in Sudan, which hosts over two million South Sudanese and hundreds of thousands of Eritreans, Ethiopians and others. Despite immense needs, appeals for aid remain severely underfunded.”

It further stated that “across the region, actions by warring parties worsened humanitarian crises. In Ethiopia, Eritrean forces blocked aid deliveries to communities in parts of Tigray under their control, while heavy fighting, repeated communications blackouts, and attacks on aid workers hampered operations in Amhara.”

Tens of millions in crisis

Meanwhile, an East African bloc reported in Nairobi on 22 August 2024 that nearly 63 million people in the Horn of Africa face severe food insecurity, with 11 million children suffering from acute malnutrition and in need of humanitarian assistance.

In its 2024 regional focus of the Global Report on Food Crises, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) said conflict, climate change, inflation and rising debt burdens have worsened hunger and malnutrition in the region.

Launching the report online, IGAD Executive Secretary Workneh Gebeyehu said, “These figures demonstrate a humanitarian crisis in our region. Extreme climate events and economic shocks are pushing food insecurity to unprecedented levels, placing millions of lives at risk.”

He urged the bloc’s seven member states—Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan and Uganda—to strengthen community resilience while confronting climate-driven food and water insecurity.

The report said the lingering effects of COVID-19, five consecutive failed rainy seasons, El Niño-linked floods and sectarian clashes compounded the hunger crisis across the Greater Horn. It noted that “25% of the analyzed population across the seven countries will face high levels of acute food insecurity in 2024, with ongoing conflict in Sudan pushing millions to the brink of famine.”