Famine in East Africa
Jul 27, 2011 | 9
With East Africa facing its worst drought in 60 years, affecting more than 11 million people, the United Nations has declared a famine in the region for the first time in a generation. Overcrowded refugee camps in Kenya and Ethiopia are receiving some 3,000 new refugees every day, as families flee from famine-stricken and war-torn areas. The meager food and water that used to support millions in the Horn of Africa is disappearing rapidly, and families strong enough to flee for survival must travel up to a hundred miles, often on foot, hoping to make it to a refugee center, seeking food and aid. Many do not survive the trip. Officials warn that 800,000 children could die of malnutrition across the East African nations of Somalia, Ethiopia, Eritrea, and Kenya...
theatlantic.com
Africa as a whole has done better in the last decade or so, then it often has in the past. Economic growth has generally been stronger, more people have joined the (vaguely and variously defined) middle class, and Africans have had more access to better technology and infrastructure. But Africa is a big place with a lot of diverse people's and climates and political and economic situations, and even parts that have been doing better, don't for the most part have the type of developed infrastructure, accumulated financial reserves, that richer countries have, and they may be less politically stable as well, so you still can have horrible things like massive famines.
Too many people outside of Africa have the image of the country as being nothing but an endless series of such famines, and in my posts here I've often tried to play out the bright side, but its not like everything is perfect as the link above shows. |
