Djibouti: Food Security Alert, 12 Sep 2008 – Drought and high prices intensify extreme food insecurity
Drought conditions and high staple food prices have left more than 340,000 people – over half of Djibouti’s population – highly or extremely food insecure and in need of emergency food and non-food assistance through the end of 2009 (Figure 1). Four consecutive years of minimal rains to support pastoral and agropastoral production have left rural and urban Djiboutians even more dependent on food imports at a time when international commodity prices have risen steadily. Unless additional assistance is mobilized to address extreme food insecurity, particularly in pastoral areas of the northwest and southeast, as well as in urban areas, conditions are likely to deteriorate further. Dry conditions have resulted in high and rising levels of acute child malnutrition since February of this year, livestock mortality rates of 50- 70 percent nationwide, limited food availability and access, and mass migration of households to urban areas (Djibouti City, Sankal, Assamo, and Beyadde).
Households in the rural northwest and southeast that depend heavily on livestock for food and income have been most affected by the poor rains, though extreme food insecurity is also present in poor, urban communities, particularly due to increased costs for staple foods that exceed the purchasing power of poor households. Existing food insecurity is further aggravated by high fuel prices, high inflation, decreased remittances, border conflict with Eritrea, and a lack of sufficient government and donor resources to assist affected populations. Railway construction in Ethiopia has also reduced service across the border, stressing households dependent on rail service for labor opportunities and transport and trade of food and livestock. Nearly all livelihood zones also face extreme water shortages. In rural areas, rains have been insufficient to regenerate pasture and browse, and reports indicate that while some water catchments have received rainfall, the water in most catchments is not fit for human consumption. In Djibouti City, water is being rationed, and poor households in areas like Vietnam, Sauvage, Gaan maan, PK 12, Wadajir (Arhibba II) Hayabley, Layabley, Bache à eau, Barwaqo, and Moustigaire are particularly affected.
In response to the crisis, the World Food Program is distributing full rations to 55,000 rural residents in all pastoral areas, meeting 31 percent of estimated rural need. Feeding centers for 25,000 children, serving 40 percent of total estimated nutritional need and sponsored by USAID, UNICEF, and the government, were also reactivated at the beginning of the year.
However, no formal initiatives for urban residents have been implemented, and a lack of government response coordination and transparency is hindering the provision of assistance. To meet needs and prevent a further deterioration in food security conditions, a number of interventions are urgently needed through the end of 2009, even if rains from the current season (July to September) are normal and food prices decrease somewhat during the first quarter of 2009 due to decreasing international oil prices. Recommended interventions include: expansion of food distributions to cover all 155,000 rural residents in need, restocking and asset-building programs, rehabilitation and construction of water catchments in grazing areas, development of alternative energy sources to facilitate water pumping, and, in urban areas, a voucher or cash–for–work program and intensive water tankering. Resources must also be mobilized to expand the number of feeding centers nationwide, and the government must improve response coordination, transparency, and mobilization to ensure a rapid and robust response.
