JUDY WOODRUFF (Newshour): And to the growing desperation in the Horn of Africa.
More than 11 million people are at risk from hunger in Somalia, Kenya, Ethiopia and Djibouti. Somalia is the worst-hit by famine, drought and a civil war with Islamic militants. Nearly half-a-million refugees have left Somalia to go to Kenya. Most are headed to the Dadaab camp just inside the border.
"Horn of Africa Famine Puts 11 Million People at Risk"
PBS Newshour 7/29/2011
"Famine, Strife in Somalia an 'Unfolding Tragedy'"
PBS Newshour 7/29/2011
Excerpt from Part-2 transcript
JEFFREY BROWN (Newshour): Now, how does something like this happen? We keep talking about a drought, and that's been a long time in coming.
JOSETTE SHEERAN, World Food Program: Right.
JEFFREY BROWN: Every time there is something like this, there is a man-made element to this, I suppose, right? We knew it was coming and there it is.
You have watched events like this. How does it happen?
JOSETTE SHEERAN: Well, droughts may not be avoidable, but famines are.
And so what we are seeing again is, in this place where this epic drought has hit, there's no water, there's no vegetation anywhere. I have flown over most of the region. This can be prevented with not only pre-action, but then emergency action when it really gets terrible. This happens. We have seen epic flooding in other places in the world, earthquakes. This is a natural disaster.
It's when you can't get access to people that you see it turn into a famine. A famine is about the state of individuals, not of the weather. And so the famine means that you have severely malnourished populations. Anything over 15 percent malnutrition rate is an emergency, and we have seen areas in Somalia now with over 45 percent. That's almost half the children in critical shape like this video that you have just shown.
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