Famine in Somalia

The country of Somalia faces many ongoing problems. Many people are aware of the ongoing political conflicts and the civil war that brings violence and death to the Somalian people everyday. They realize that 30,000 Somalians have been killed since the government was overthrow in 1991. However, few people actually realize the extent to which this fighting has affected the people of Somalia. They forget about the other 300,000 people who have been killed due to famine in Somalia. The irreversible damage that has occurred due to the Somalia famine may have been avoided or reduced with the cooperation of a central government. Famine in Somalia has been brought on in large part due to drought and inadequate and unpredictable rainfall. Crops, such as the sorghum crop, has failed and village water holes have run dry, providing Somalians with no access to food or water, and the clans and factions in Somalia are so busy fighting their civil war that they are doing little, or nothing, to help the people who are suffering from famine in Somalia. Somalia famine has caused thousands of people to flee from their homes, where they have no access to the resources that are necessary for survival, to makeshift camps. Often, people who are suffering from famine in Somalia have attempted to cross into bordering countries, such as Kenya, where they are refused entrance into the country and are offered little or no assistance. Many individuals die in these camps or near the borders of neighboring countries.

The United Nations has tried repeatedly to assist with Somalia famine, but their effort reliefs are often hampered due to the current state of the country. The clan fighting that is taking place in Somalia makes in difficult and dangerous for workers to enter the country and provide relief to Somalians. Because of this workers are unable to find out haw many people have dies because of Somalia famine, or how bad the food shortage really is. Foreign governments and organizations do not offer any long term assistance to help the people cope with famine in Somalia. They provide quick, one time fixes by offering aid and delivering food, however, famine in Somalia will continue to occur. In order to reduce the effects of Somalia famine a central government needs to be instated, and the infrastructure of Somalia needs to change. That way, when famine dose strike in Somalia the people have a government that can assist them and provide some form of relief. Somalia famine is not the only famine taking place in Africa. Famine is widespread throughout much of Africa and repeated famines have been documented in countries such as Rwanda and Ethiopia. Throughout history much of the world has had to cope with famine at one time or another. Famine has occurred in Russia, Asia, and Europe in places such as Italy, England, Iceland, and Finland. One of the most well known famines in history was the Great Potato Famine, that occurred between 1845–1849 in Ireland, killing 1,000,000 people and forcing another 1,000,000 to emigrate.