FAO GLOBAL INFORMATION AND EARLY WARNING SYSTEM ON FOOD AND
AGRICULTURE (Circulated only for countries where foodcrops or
supply situation conditions give rise to concern) The Horn of
Africa needs urgent and adequate food assistance to stave off
famine and mass starvation following a succession of droughts
that destroyed crops and decimated livestock. Food shortages are
particularly grave in the pastoral areas of eastern and southern
Ethiopia where deaths from starvation are being increasingly
reported. The food situation is also very serious in pastoral
areas of northern and north-eastern Kenya, west-central areas of
Somalia bordering Ethiopia, and north-eastern Uganda. In the
Horn as a whole, about 16 million people are in dire need, with
over half in Ethiopia. In addition, as the main cropping season
approaches, prospects for recovery are poor as rains so far have
been late and draught animals have been lost or severely
weakened while most farm families have consumed seeds in
desperation to ward off hunger