“Famine is not a word we use lightly” said Valerie Amos, UN Under-Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, at the Rome meeting called to discuss the emergency in Eastern Africa which is in the grip of the worst drought in 6 decades.

The rains did not come; the crops failed; the next rains – if they come – are not expected until October; and the next harvest cannot be expected before January 2012.

Right now the drought has placed over 11 million people in need of humanitarian assistance in Kenya, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Somalia and part of Uganda. The damage is much worse because of high prices for food and fuel. This affects transport, limits access to health facilities and makes it harder for emergency food and water to be distributed.

At the UN briefing today we heard this is a children’s emergency. Every day 1100 children arrive in Ethiopia from Somalia; 800 children arrive every day in Kenya.  More than half of the children arriving are moderately or severely malnourished. It is a life and death issue. Hundreds of thousands of packs of high energy biscuits, water purifiers and packs to rehydrate children are being distributed. For too many the end of a desperate journey ends in death, not life.

Children born during a drought are 71% more likely to be severely stunted for the rest of their lives.

The good news is that all the UN agencies – the Children’s Fund (UNICEF), World Food Programme (WFP) UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) – are working together.  Many governments are increasing their financial contributions to the emergency.

The experts agree that the humanitarian crisis must be addressed right now. But it must be accompanied by an action plan to address the root causes of food insecurity and bring resiliency to the region. This means helping the countries in the Horn of Africa to support their poorest farmers with essential help such as tools, seeds, fertilizers, food-based nutrition and the knowledge to boost agricultural production and sustain rural livelihoods.

A joint FAO/WFP/Oxfam statement says: “The good news is that we know what to do: in 2010 an Action Plan was created that calls for a partnership between countries, humanitarian organizations and the development assistance community to link long-term development efforts and humanitarian assistance to build food security”.