A toxic cocktail of factors, including successive droughts, violent conflict and chronic poverty, has put an estimated 9 to 13 million people in urgent need of humanitarian assistance. This situation has been compounded by rapidly rising food prices.

Oxfam’s Rob McNeil, who has just returned from the Somali and Afar regions of Ethiopia said: “This is a catastrophe in the making; we have time to act before it becomes a reality. The cost of food has escalated by up to 500 per cent in some places, leaving people who have suffered drought after drought in utter destitution. Some of the roads we travelled on were littered with dead livestock. There is little or no pasture or water for the animals that people rely upon. People are increasingly becoming desperate. I saw people in one village reduced to pounding the food pellets intended for their animals into porridge to feed their families. We fear that the worst could be yet to come as the crisis deteriorates across East Africa.”

In Somalia, the cost of imported rice increased by up to 350 percent between the beginning of 2007 and May 2008. In areas of Ethiopia, the price of wheat has more than doubled over a six-month period and food prices are expected to remain prohibitively high for many until the next harvest in October.

In the areas of East Africa heavily dependent on food imports, such as Somalia, global food price rises are making food more expensive. Local factors including poor harvests, market disruption due to insecurity and the rising cost of fuel globally have also played a role.

Besides a succession of poor rains, drought, high food prices, violent insecurity and chronic poverty, the region has been hit by pests and disease. An infestation of voracious caterpillars has damaged almost 70 per cent of crops and pasture in four northern districts of Kenya. Northern Kenya and Uganda have also suffered from an attack of a virus that causes high death rates of goats and sheep.

The impact of all these compounding problems is increasing destitution and misery for an already beleaguered population. This is the second serious drought in the region in the last three years and the human toll of the crisis is huge:

• In Somalia, 2.6 million, some 35 percent of the population, require emergency assistance. This could increase to half the population of the country (3.5 million) by the end of 2008. Between 18-24 percent of children are acutely malnourished.
• In Ethiopia, the government estimates 4.6 million people are now in need of emergency food assistance. This has more than doubled from 2.2 million in need of help at the beginning of this year. Some 75,000 children are suffering from severe acute malnutrition in drought stricken areas according to the government.
• In Turkana, northern Kenya, an Oxfam survey showed that 25 percent of children are suffering from acute malnutrition, the highest in the country.

High malnutrition rates have been reported in several parts of Ethiopia and could increase without an immediate increase in humanitarian assistance. To address the worsening food crisis the Ethiopian government requires an additional $430 million.

Oxfam is calling on donors to increase aid levels to the region. A UN appeal for emergency aid for Somalia, one of the worst hit countries, has only received 37 percent of funding needs. The Ethiopian government estimates that only one-third of the funds necessary to manage the crisis have been received.

“The public must be asking why does this happen year after year. The answer is that the world consistently fails to adequately address the underlying causes of these crises. Chronic poverty in a world of gross inequality of wealth and opportunity lie at the heart of these cyclical crises. Both governments in the rich and poor world need to invest in a concerted action to tackle the underlying causes. We need to act to save lives in the short term but without investment in the long term as well then scenes of destitution will continue to haunt our shared conscience,” said Oxfam America president Raymond C. Offenheiser.

Besides responding to immediate needs Oxfam called on donors not to walk away from the region after the emergency phase has ended. Long-term investment in safety net schemes, agricultural development and building capacity of people to prepare for future disasters is needed to prevent the vicious cycle of food crises, which have plagued East Africa.

Across the region, Oxfam is currently reaching an estimated 500,000 people with water, food aid and cash programs. Oxfam is also helping people to protect and recover their livestock and their seeds for the coming planting season, and in the long term, to secure their livelihoods.

"President Bush's call on Congress to provide nearly three-quarters of a billion dollars in additional food aid, on top of $240 million he committed recently, is an extremely important move to avert a potential humanitarian disaster,? said Raymond C. Offenheiser, president of Oxfam America. "We especially applaud the President's call for reform of the food aid system to allow for more flexibility and resources when addressing food crises. If aid agencies are allowed to purchase food regionally rather than having it shipped in from halfway around the world, more food can get to more people faster, while encouraging local food production to avert future disasters.?

While America provides half of the world's food aid, this generosity is undermined by legal restrictions and bureaucracy, as food aid must be purchased in the US and transported on US-flagged ships, according to Oxfam. As a result, food aid takes months to deliver and costs twice as much. But Congress has so far refused to seriously consider much needed reforms of our food aid policies as part of the on going consideration of the new Farm Bill.

?Given the current crisis, Congress should support President Bush's proposal to fund additional food aid and to shift some food aid resources into cash for local purchase, making food aid delivery faster and more efficient and more flexible,? said Offenheiser.

"We also applaud the President's call for the successful completion of the Doha Round of international trade negotiations and the end of trade distorting subsidies as a means of achieving this goal,? said Offenheiser. ?In this regard, more reform of US farm subsidy programs is required and should be achieved before a final farm bill is sent to the President. The current bill being debated by farm bill conferees falls far short of what is needed to provide real reform.?

The agency called on all donors to respond generously to the worsening crisis as, according to the UN, the total aid effort is currently under-funded to the tune of $260m.

The revised numbers of those needing emergency assistance is likely to be a conservative estimate and does not include the 7.2 million Ethiopians so chronically poor that they receive cash or food aid from the government every year.

?Today?s figures, terrible as they are, show only half the picture. Over 13.5 million Ethiopians are in need of aid in order to survive. The number of those suffering severe hunger and destitution has spiralled. More can and must be done now to save lives and avert disaster,? said Oxfam?s country director, Waleed Rauf.

"Compared with the funds going to shore up the global financial system the aid needed to save lives in Ethiopia is a drop in the ocean. The events of recent weeks clearly demonstrate that ? with the right kind of political will and ambition - action is possible in the face of urgent needs. We need donors to demonstrate that same kind of urgency when responding to acute hunger and underlying vulnerabilities in places like Ethiopia," added Rauf.

Oxfam is particularly concerned about the situation for pastoralist communities in Afar and Somali regions. In northern areas the recent minor rains season was patchy and many people will remain dependent on aid until March next year when the next rains are expected. Further south, if the October/November rains are poor people there will have to hold out until next July.

Numbers in need of help in the Somali region has doubled to nearly two million people since June. Those in need also face huge problems due to loss of their livestock with an average loss of 60 percent of cattle, 50 percent of goats and 40 percent of camels.

In July the UN?s World Food Programme (WFP) had to reduce monthly cereal rations from 15kgs a person to 10kgs. WFP has only received one third of the funds it needs and has an immediate shortfall of 229,587 tonnes food for the next six months. The UN agency fears the impact of this will include increased malnutrition.

?A number of donor countries have already made substantial contributions to the humanitarian response in Ethiopia since the beginning of this year. This has helped to save people?s lives, but now that the needs are increasing all donors must provide additional money,? said Rauf.

In a letter to Congressional leaders, Oxfam America president Raymond C. Offenheiser joined the leaders of humanitarian organizations Mercy Corps and the International Medical Corps to call for urgent action by the Congress to meet the historic challenge posed by skyrocketing food prices.

?Congress and the White House are negotiating a new Farm Bill that will spend as much as $300 billion over the next five years. The bill maintains significant farm subsidies which go overwhelmingly to the largest and wealthiest producers despite the fact that US farm income is at record levels,? said the letter signed by Offenheiser, Nancy Lindborg, president of Mercy Corps and Nancy Aossey, president of the International Medical Corps. ?Even a small redistribution of subsidies for wealthy US farmers could make a huge difference in reducing starvation in many parts of the world.?

Faced with a global hunger crisis, Congress has an important opportunity to provide desperately needed funding to help those facing starvation due to high food and energy prices and help head off a global humanitarian disaster, according to the organizations.

?We understand that this represents a major political challenge, but we believe that the dire circumstances warrant dramatic steps and demand leadership,? continued the letter. ?We also know that a humanitarian and development crisis may be averted if these urgent actions are taken.?

Late last week, President Bush called on Congress to provide an additional $770 million in assistance to help address the needs of millions of people in developing countries who face acute hunger and to help improve agriculture so they can feed themselves. But, at the same time, Congress was preparing to slash funding for the McGovern-Dole Program, which feeds school children in developing countries. Restoring funding for the McGovern-Dole Program and responding to the President?s request for added funding are essential. In addition, a simple change in our food aid policy to allow cash for local purchase of commodities also requested by the President would immediately increase the speed and efficiency of food aid programs, providing more food and assistance to people around the world.

?Almost half of all US food aid cost due to bureaucratic restrictions and high transportation costs?, says Offenheiser. ?In calling on the Congress to provide more assistance, the Bush administration has also asked the Congress to allow more flexibility in providing food resources to those in need when addressing food crises.?

If aid agencies were allowed to purchase food aid closer to where it is needed?rather than shipping it thousands of miles from the USA?food could get to more people faster according to Oxfam. This would also encourage local food production that can help avert future disasters.

?As we have witnessed in the past few weeks, high food prices are pushing many more people deeper into poverty. Hunger, poverty, and lack of economic opportunity in developing countries are a human tragedy, but they also have implications for America?s long-term security and prosperity,? said Offenheiser. ?Americans want to help people in need. Pandering to wealthy farmers and special interests at the expense of women and children who face malnutrition is not what Americans expect of their elected officials. There's still time for the Congress to demonstrate leadership in helping avert starvation and social unrest resulting from high food prices."

The Zimbabwean government has declared a national health emergency. Oxfam welcomed the declaration, saying that it should spur international donors to respond more urgently to the humanitarian needs.

"People have been going without enough food for months. They are hungry, weak, and vulnerable to infection. Some donors have immediately made sums available, and that will make a real difference. But this is far from enough. Unless the international community steps up to provide money for food and medical assistance immediately, the already dire situation will get much worse,? said Peter Mutoredzanwa, Country Director for Oxfam in Zimbabwe.

"Millions of people were already facing starvation. With unemployment over 80 percent, and food unavailable across the country, they now have to contend with cholera and other diseases as the water and sanitation systems break down. With the rainy season upon us, the epidemic will spread even more rapidly. Aid agencies urgently need support from the international community to scale up their efforts,? Mutoredzanwa added.

Ordinary Zimbabweans desperately need health care, clean water and sanitation. Cholera, a water-born disease, has surged due to the breakdown of city sewerage systems, poor maintenance of water supply systems, including hand pumps, severe drinking water shortages, and the lack of basic hygiene items such as soap.

?With close to half the population weakened by serious food shortages, cholera when it hits is even more likely to be lethal,? said Mutoredzanwa. ?Indications are that more than 5 million people will urgently need food aid by January.?

Oxfam is distributing 12,000 metric tons of maize meal, vegetable oil and pulses in collaboration with the World Food Program (WFP), reaching 150,000 vulnerable people. The agency?s cholera response will now be scaling up to target 615,000 people, and focusing on three of the worst hit areas: Beitbridge on the South African border; Budiriro, a suburb of Harare; and Mudzi, an area bordering Mozambique. The aid agency also plans to start moving into areas where cholera has not hit, to proactively prevent the spread of the disease.

?We are very concerned that unless donors pledge additional money now, food aid rations will have to be cut,? said Mutoredzanwa. ?No one should wait for a political solution in Zimbabwe before pledging to help—this will be too late for millions of vulnerable Zimbabweans.?