Food experts seek long-term solutions on Somalia famine

guardian.co.uk –

International agricultural experts on Thursday stressed the need for long-term measures to avoid a repetition of the crisis in the Horn of Africa that has left 12 million hungry.

As aid agencies poured supplies into Mogadishu, Somalia, the country most severely affected through a combination of drought and conflict, officials at the Food and Agriculture Organisation held a second emergency meeting in less than a month to take stock of the humanitarian disaster.

While acknowledging the need for immediate emergency aid, they emphasised the need for actions and policies to prevent famine from recurring. "We must think not only about saving lives today, but build sustainable livelihoods to avoid future calamities," said Jacques Diouf, the FAO president. "What the world is seeing now is the unfortunate result of three decades of underinvestment in agriculture and underdevelopment."