Workers transfer relief food in Maralal town, Samburu County, Kenya, on March 2, 2017. Kenya government declared current drought a national disaster last month which was affecting about 2.7 million people. World Food Program (WFP) plans to distribute relief food to stricken people in Kenya, but the food agency has a 22 million dollar revenue shortfall. (Xinhua/Pan Siwei)

Four consecutive seasons of poor rains have left millions of drought-stricken people in Kenya, Somalia and Ethiopia facing starvation, aid agencies and meteorologists said Monday, warning that the October-November monsoon "could also fail."

The unprecedented drought is "a climatic event not seen in at least 40 years," said the statement by meteorological experts and humanitarian groups including UN agencies.

"The 2022 March-May rainy season appears likely to be the driest on record," it said in a statement.

Insufficient rainfall has destroyed crops, killed livestock and forced huge numbers of people to leave their homes in search of food and water, with the prospect of a fifth failed monsoon threatening to plunge the troubled region even deeper into catastrophe. 

"Should these forecasts materialize, the already severe humanitarian emergency in the region would further deepen," the agencies said.

The drought has already wiped out 3.6 million livestock in parts of Kenya and Ethiopia where local populations rely heavily on pastoralism to eke out a living. Meanwhile, one in three animals have died in Somalia since mid-2021.

More than 16.7 million people in the three countries are experiencing acute hunger with the number projected to rise to 20 million by September.

The dire conditions have been exacerbated by the conflict in Ukraine, which has contributed to soaring food and fuel costs, the statement added. 

Without funding to scale up the aid response, an already dire situation will get worse, it said. 

"A rapid scaling up of actions is needed now to save lives and avert starvation and death," it said.

AFP