MidnightWatcher – Prophecy in Motion

“(CNN) — A record 4 million people in Somalia need humanitarian aid and 750,000 people are in danger of ‘imminent starvation,’ the United Nations said on Monday.

Famine in the African nation has spread to the Bay region, which is now the sixth area in Somalia suffering from an acute shortage of food, according to the the U.N.’s Food Security and Nutrition Analysis Unit (FSNAU) and the Famine Early Warning Systems Network.

Officials are calling for a surge in response efforts as the crisis is predicted to get worse.

‘With the current food security outcomes famine conditions are expected to spread to agro pastoral populations in Gedo, Hiran, Middle Shabelle and Juba regions and riverine populations of Juba and Gedo in the coming 4 months,’ Grainne Moloney, FSNAU’s chief technical advisor, said in a statement announcing the latest survey results.

Of the 4 million people in need of emergency aid, 3 million are in the south. That figure is up from 2.4 million eight months ago.” Read more.

“Ongoing drought in northern, northeastern and western Afghanistan is likely to push 1.5-2 million more people into food insecurity this autumn, according to the UN World Food Programme (WFP).

This is in addition to the seven million country-wide already facing food shortages.

The Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock (MAIL) is reporting a failure of the rain-fed wheat crop, which accounts for about 55 percent of the total domestic wheat yield.

Irrigated wheat, which tends to yield more per hectare, has also been affected by the drought. The average wheat yield (without fertilizers) on irrigated land is about 2.7 tons per hectare (3.5 tons with fertilizer), versus only 1.1 tons on rain-fed land, according to MAIL.

In a normal year Afghanistan produces 4.5 million tons of wheat and around one million tons are imported. The shortfall of 1.9 million tons of wheat this year means more will either have to be imported or secured from other sources.

‘Satellite derived rainfall estimates indicate that most of Afghanistan had an untimely and inadequate rain and snow season this year. As a result, there will be heavy losses in rain-fed wheat crops, underperforming irrigated wheat crops, poor pasture conditions, and low income earning opportunities in northern Afghanistan and the central highlands this year,’ said the US Agency for International Development’s FEWSNET.” Read more.

By JASON STRAZIUSO – “The drought and famine in Somalia have killed more than 29,000 children under the age of 5, according to U.S. estimates, the first time such a precise death toll has been released related to the Horn of Africa crisis.

The United Nations has said previously that tens of thousands of people have died in the drought, the worst in Somalia in 60 years. The U.N. says 640,000 Somali children are acutely malnourished, a statistic that suggests the death toll of small children will rise.

Nancy Lindborg, an official with the U.S. government aid arm, told a congressional committee in Washington on Wednesday that the U.S. estimates that more than 29,000 children under the age of 5 have died in the last 90 days in southern Somalia. That number is based on nutrition and mortality surveys verified by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The U.N. on Wednesday declared three new regions in Somalia famine zones, bringing the total number to five. Out of a population of roughly 7.5 million, the U.N. says 3.2 million Somalis are in need of immediate lifesaving assistance.” Read more.

“(CNN) — Exceptional drought conditions spread across nearly 12% of the United States last month, a record number that shows the widespread impact of the dry weather conditions, according to a report released Monday.

Officials at the National Drought Mitigation Center said the July percentage is the highest recorded level of drought since the monitor began documenting conditions 12 years ago.

More than 40% of states faced abnormal dryness or drought, a report released by the center said.

The report tracks and ranks weather conditions from ‘abnormal dryness’ to ‘exceptional drought.’ A drought is considered ‘exceptional’ when the situation extends beyond what ‘could be considered part of normal risk management,’ according to the center’s website.

Dry weather has been pervasive throughout the South but particularly difficult for Texas, which hoped to find relief in Tropical Storm Don. The storm made landfall Friday between Corpus Christi and Brownsville but quickly fizzled into a tropical depression, disappointing residents looking for a break.

‘We were desperately hoping for some rain that didn’t come,’ said Tiffany Sunday, a resident of the Corpus Christi area.” Read more.

“Several districts in Uganda will need urgent relief aid to mitigate the risk of starvation following poor rains that have affected this year’s harvest, the Minister for Disaster Preparedness warned.

Most of the affected districts are in Karamoja where the situation was particularly unique because crop failure and a prolonged drought had aggravated the region’s food crisis, Musa Ecweru said.

‘Arrangements are under way by government to deliver enriched food supplements to help feed close to 2,000 severely malnourished children in that region,’ the minister told IRIN on 26 July.

Fifteen districts have been tagged a red-zone area (at risk of starvation if there is no urgent relief intervention) by the government, including Moroto, Napak, Kotido, Amudat, Kaabong, Nakapiripirit, Abim (all in Karamoja), Amuria, Katakwi, Adjumani, Arua, Koboko, Moyo, Yumbe and Bulambuli.

Karamoja has the lowest levels of human development in Uganda. Only 30 percent of the people have access to safe water; only 11 percent are literate and nearly 80 percent experience some degree of food insecurity, according to UN data.” Read more.