Djibouti Appeals for International Aid to Curb Drought Effects

Djibouti appealed for $21 million from international donors to help deal with a drought that has left about 120,000 of the country’s citizens vulnerable.

Almost all of the dams and wells in the Horn of Africa nation have run dry, resulting in a scarcity of drinking water among the rural population, Communication and Culture Minister Abdi Ahmed Houssein said in a press briefing broadcast on state television yesterday. Cattle mortality rates have also increased, Houssein said.

Parts of East Africa are facing the worst drought in 60 years. The United Nations yesterday declared a famine in two regions of southern Somalia, amid a lack of rain that has resulted in food prices almost tripling over the past year.

To contact the reporter on this story: Mohamed Osman Farah in Djibouti via Nairobi at pmrichardson@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Paul Richardson at pmrichardson@bloomberg.net.