A World Food Program (WFP) official on Monday urged the scaling up of climate mitigation efforts in East Africa, warning that the region has become the face of the climate crisis.
Azzurra Chiarini, regional advisor for climate and resilience at WFP, said in a statement that extreme weather events such as droughts and floods have become increasingly common, affecting millions across the region.
“Prolonged drought, followed by extensive flooding, has significantly increased the number of acutely food insecure people needing urgent, humanitarian assistance, and caused mass displacement and loss of livelihoods,” Chiarini said.
Some 66 million people are food insecure in the Horn of Africa, according to the latest estimate from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD).
The scaling up of anticipatory action should be prioritized by governments, Chiarini said, noting that this is urgent for the region.
“Anticipatory action requires a sustainable system for reliable early warning and timely action to support the most vulnerable,” Chiarini said ahead of the Eastern Africa Dialogue Platform on Anticipatory Humanitarian Action, which will be held on Oct. 1 by the Climate Prediction and Applications Center (ICPAC) of IGAD, an East African bloc. ICPAC said that the Eastern Africa region faces numerous disasters, including droughts, floods, extreme heat, pests, diseases, conflicts, and economic instability, “leading to large-scale displacement and severe impacts on lives and livelihoods.”
According to ICPAC, the prolonged drought from 2020 to 2023 and El Nino-induced flooding in 2023 and 2024 have highlighted the need for anticipatory action.
The dialogue on anticipatory action will review regional progress, share learning, and propose policy, practice, and finance priorities, ICPAC said. (Xinhua)
