3 Feb 2012

UN / SOMALIA FAMINE

The United Nations today (3 February) declared an end to famine conditions in Somalia, but warned that the crisis in the Horn of Africa is not over and requires continued efforts to restore food security and help people resume normal lives. FAO / FILE

Posted at: February 3, 2012 5:25 pm

Duration: 03:18

Available in: SD

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Full script

STORY: UN / SOMALIA FAMINE
TRT: 3.18
SOURCE: FAO
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / SOMALI / NATS

DATELINE: RECENT 2012, DOLLOW, SOMALIA / 23-24 OCTOBER 2011, MOGADISHU, SOMALIA

SHOTLIST:

FILE – UNICEF - 23-24 OCTOBER 2011, MOGADISHU, SOMALIA

1. Med shot, women with children in line
2. Close shot, child in mother's arms 
3. Med shot, mother putting child onto scale
4. Wide shot, mothers and children sitting at Therapeutic Centre
5. Close shot, child in mother's arms
6. Med shot, father and child sitting inside their tent, child crying
7. Close up, child's hands

RECENT 2012, SOMALIA

8. Wide shot, FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva and delegation at Dollow airport
9. Med shot, da Silva with officials
10. Wide shot, delegation arriving at a banana plantation
11. Wide shot, delegation with da Silva speaking to farmer, Amina Abdi Osman, in banana field 
12. Med shot, Amina Abdi Osman working in the banana field
13. Close shot, dirt and shovel
14. SOUNDBITE (Somali) Amina Abdi Osman, farmer:
"The drought was the worst, the animals died because of it and there weren't enough crops, so we didn't have enough food to harvest."  
15. Med shot, delegation walking past camera in grass field from left to right including a soldier
16. Tilt up, from watermelon plant to wide of delegation looking out over the field
17. Wide shot, man walking in field with a plough and donkeys with several men walking alongside 
18. Med shot, man walking with plough 
19. Close-up, water-pump wheel of irrigation system 
20. Wide shot, water-pump and delegation in the background
24. Tilt down, from delegation standing near water pipe to water coming out onto irrigation channel
25. Pan right, water in irrigation channel 
31. Wide shot, goats and herder
34. Wide shot, goats and herder walking past camera, ending on delegation in the background
41. Wide shot, elders meeting
42. Pan right, delegation around table with elders 
43. Close shot, da Silva listening
44. SOUND-UP (English) José Graziano da Silva, Director-General, FAO:
"For me it is very clear that if we can provide you with modern tools and machinery this area could be one of the most important agricultural areas of Somalia." 
45. Close shot, elder listening 
49. SOUNDBITE (English) José Graziano da Silva, Director-General, FAO:
"FAO is not able to prevent drought. Drought happens, its something due to nature. But we can avoid that when we have drought, we have famine. Famine is not necessary a consequence of drought." 
50. Wide shot, herder with goats

STORYLINE:

The number of people in need of emergency humanitarian assistance in Somalia dropped from 4 million to 2.3 million, or 31 per cent of the population, according to a new report by the UN and the United States (US) Government. Additionally, 325,000 children are acutely malnourished.

The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) attributes the improved situation in Somalia to a combination of adequate rainfall in late 2011 and substantial humanitarian assistance.

This allowed farmers to produce and buy more food, according to a news release issued by FAO, which as part of its emergency response, distributed seeds and fertilizers to Somali farmers.

FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva recently travelled to Somalia just a month after taking up office to see first-hand the situation in the country.

Graziano met Amina Abdi Osman (71), a farmer who plants lemons and bananas in the arid region of Somalia, manually bringing water from the nearby Juba River.

Amina says this was the worst drought she remembers.

SOUNDBITE (Somali) Amina Abdi Osman, Farmer:
"The drought was the worst, the animals died because of it and there wasn't enough crops, so we didn't have enough food to harvest."

However, in Dollow Somalia farmers and pastoralists were able to resist the drought owing to better conditions. While famine was declared in other parts of southern Somalia, they maintained their production and food security.

FAO contributed to those efforts by installing 245 water pumps, each benefitting around 20 families, which allowed them to use the river's waters to irrigate their land. Seeds and fertilizer were also distributed. Now, even in the current dry season, the crops are growing.

FAO also works with pastoralist households in the region. This is where the animals come to drink, at the Juba River, which divides Somalia from Ethiopia.

During his visit, da Silva also met with village elders, discussing the current situation and what needs to be done.

SOUND-UP (English) José Graziano da Silva, Director-General, FAO:
"For me it is very clear that if we can provide you with modern tools and machinery this area could be one of the most important agricultural area of Somalia."

While the severe drought that ravaged the Horn of Africa last year caused food shortages that claimed the lives of tens of thousands of people in Somalia and led the UN to declare a famine in six areas of the country, drought does not have to result in famine, da Silva suggested.

SOUNDBITE (English) José Graziano da Silva, Director-General, FAO:
"FAO is not able to prevent drought. Drought happens, its something due to nature. But we can avoid that when we have drought, we have famine. Famine is not necessarily a consequence of drought."

Earlier today, the head of the Humanitarian organization (OCHA) Valerie Amos welcomed the news that famine conditions were no longer present in Somalia, according to the most recent analysis released by the FAO's Food Security and Nutrition Analysis Unit and Famine Early Warning System.

Also the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) said that improved farming prospects have prompted several thousand Somali refugees in Ethiopia and Kenya to return home temporarily. The agency reports that some 7,000 refugees returned in January, mainly to the previously famine-affected regions.