During 2011 East Africa has suffered its worst drought in 60 years, followed by a famine. Estimating 13 million people in Somalia, Ethiopia, Djibouti and Kenya are in desperate need of emergency food aid. Aid organizations fear that tens of thousands of people will starve to death during this fall.

The rainy season has recently begun in many parts of East Africa and it is surely welcomed with joy and celebration. Even though the coming rains are necessary in order to the new crops to grow, they might make the situation worse on the short-term.

Due to long periods of drought, the land in the area is very dry and will not be able to absorb all the rain water. This means that most of the water will stay on the surface of the land, causing flooding. The flood water is an excellent breeding ground for fatal diseases such as cholera, malaria and dengue-fever. Some cases of dengue fever have already been reported both in Kenya and Ethiopia and the situation is likely to get worse as the rainy season continues. Most of the population is suffering from malnourishment and are too weak to fight these diseases. Especially children and the elderly are vulnerable.

Common sense would tell that the rainy season should bring some sort of relief to the people of East Africa but in fact it can complicate the situation even more and make it more challenging for aid organizations working in the area.

Kati Moring, BA, SOAS

For more information see e.g. Unicef.fi