10 Oct 2011 – Daily Monitoring Report
Key Headlines:
- TFG / AMISOM commence operations to secure final sector of Mogadishu
- Fighting continues in the Somali capital today
- AU Somali forces seize Mogadishu rebel bases
- Joint forces seize control of Heliwa district Mogadishu
- TFG/AMISOM forces take control of Pasta Factory
- Mass demonstration in Mogadishu to condemn Tuesday’s carnage
- Government offensive ongoing in regions of Somalia
- UN asked to intervene in war on al Shabaaab
- Kenya sets up bases to fight Somali raiders
PRESS STATEMENT
TFG / AMISOM commence operations to secure final sector of Mogadishu
10 Oct – Source: AMISOM- 208 words
10 civilian deaths from continued al Shabaab mortaring in Heliwa and Karaan Districts last week have prompted the Somali National Army, supported by AMISOM, to undertake operations in the North of the Mogadishu.
Operations are aimed at securing the former Arafat Hospital and the Pasta Factory on the Industrial Road, and driving the Al Qaeda linked extremists out of the city.
AMISOM Force Commander, Major General Fred Mugisha said:
“A small number of al Shabaab remain a lethal threat in the North of the Mogadishu. They continue to shell civilian targets and with 10 civilian deaths in one week, we must act immediately to remove this threat.
“We are carrying out operations around the former Arafat Hospital and the Pasta Factory on the Industrial Road. We hope they will be quickly effective and we ask any civilians in the area to limit their movement during the next few hours.
“Al Shabaab will be judged harshly for the lives they take and the atrocities they commit. We need the support of all peace loving Somalis to help us restore peace and stability to the city. We urge the civilian population to support their government and isolate and reject criminals. That way we can start to provide effective security together.”
SOMALI MEDIA
Fighting continues in the Somali capital today
10 Oct- Source: Radio Mogadishu, Mareeg Online, Kulmiye and Jowhar – 123 words
Heavy fighting between al Shabaab fighters against TFG and AMISOM peacekeeping forces is currently taking place in the capital Mogadishu, reports said.
AU forces in Mogadishu and Somali national army attacked the Hilliwa district of Mogadishu, a stronghold of al Shabaab and both sides are exchanging heavy weapons now. According to initial reports, AMISOM and Somali forces captured key military positions of al Shabaab in Hilliwa district like Past Industry, SOS and Ex-control Bal’ad junction.
Abdullahi Ali Anod, one of army commanders of Somali forces told reporters that their forces are heading to the remaining zones in Hilliwaa and Daynile districts and would stop the battle once they assure security in Mogadishu.
Joint forces seize control of Heliwa district, Mogadishu
10 Oct- Source: Radio Bar-kulan, Radio Mogadishu, Radio Kulmiye, and Risala- 128 words
Somali government troops backed by African Union peacekeeping forces in Mogadishu on Monday morning advanced into a rebel-held position in the capital Mogadishu and seized control of parts of Heliwa district.
Eyewitnesses in the districts of Yaqshid and Heliwa told Bar-Kulan the joint forces moved from their bases in Fagah and the former national TV station, adding that they first met stiff resistance but later managed to overrun the militant fighters.
State-owned media reported that government troops and AU forces took control of several areas in the north including former Pasta Factory, Ex-Control Bal’ad junction and SOS Hospital, which al Shabaab have been occupying.
The operation comes after TFG and AMISOM launched security operations aimed at stamping out militant group fighters from the north of the city.
TFG/AMISOM forces take control of Pasta Factory
10 Oct- Source: Radio Bar-kulan, Kulmiye, Risaala- 85 words
TFG and AMISOM forces have taken control of former Pasta Factory, Ex-Control Balad, Inter SOS junction, Galgalato in Heliwa and Karaan districts as part their operations to fully secure Mogadishu.
This comes as operations have started to take control of the northern corridor and drive the al Qaeda-linked extremists out of the city.
The Pasta Factory compound was an operational hub for the extremists in which they shell civilian targets. This operation is intended to save the lives of the people who have returned to their homes.
Fleeing families reach Jowhar, Middle Shabelle region
10 Oct- Source: Radio Bar-kulan- 106 words
Several families fleeing the recent clashes in northern Mogadishu have reportedly reached Middle Shabelle’s regional headquarter, Jowhar.
The fleeing people mainly women, children and elderly people fled some parts of the city including the districts of Heliwa, Karan, and Suqa holaha area, all in the north of the capital, and reached the rebel-held town of Jowhar.
According to some of these people, they could not withstand the recent confrontations inside their neighbourhoods and the joint government and AU troops security operations in the area.
Government and AU forces in the capital have on Saturday embarked on security operations aimed at bolstering the situation in the area.
Government offensive ongoing in regions of Somalia
10 Oct- Source: Radio Mogadishu, Sonna – 205 words
Somali government forces have today launched a major offensive in Mogadishu and Gedo against al Shabaab militias.
In Gedo, the government forces dismantled checkpoints in the remote rural areas that link Garbaharey and Beled-Hawo town in Gedo region of Somalia that saw the arrest of many extremists fighters.
The latest government operation began after al Shabaab terrorists laid checkpoints and began extorting road users and passengers onboard public buses that operate on the road that connects Beled-Hawo town and Garbaharey capital of the Gedo region in South West Somalia.
Hon.Mohamud Said Adan, a Somali Member of Parliament who is in Gedo region confirmed to Radio Mogadishu that the planned operations by the government forces to safe guard the civilian populations is ongoing and that the forces have made steady advances so far.
MP Mohamud Said also added that similar operations will continue and will not be stopped unless the government troops remove the weakened terrorists from the whole region.
Elsewhere in Mogadishu the government forces have made advancements and have placed into their control key villages and junctions that used to be al Shabaab vital bases. The latest offensive saw pockets of L Shabaab hiding in Karaan, Hiliwa and Yakshid among other districts of the capital.
Mass demonstration in Mogadishu to condemn Tuesday’s carnage
09 Oct- Source: Raxanreeb- 330 words
Thousands of residents of Mogadishu have today gathered at the football stadium of Konis in Mogadishu to condemn Tuesday’s terrorist attack which took the lives of more than 100 people and injured nearly 200 others.
The highest-ranking TFG officials including President Sheikh Sharif, the Prime Minister Abdiweli Mohamed Ali, a number of cabinet ministers and the Benadir regional administration attended the demonstration which started on 10:00 on Sunday morning.
“We came here today to show our grievance and our strongest condemnation towards the cowardly and ruthless act by al Shabaab”, Mohamud Ahmed Nur [Tarsan], the governor of Benadir region told the participants.
Mr. Tarsan called for Mogadishu residents to unite and continue to work for peace and stability to be back without fear of al Shabaab group, “Let us not fear, we must act our selves”. He said.
Prime Minister Abdiweli Mohamed who today visited the ruins of the building of former ministry of education where the explosion targeted on Tuesday said that it was an Islamic obligation to fight against extremists in Somalia as self-defense.
“If a person attacks you. Then you have to defend yourself. It is just like that” the prime minister told the people. He vowed that his government will not tolerate killing the civilians by al Shabaab.
President Sheikh Sharif who offered a long and sensitive speech at the scene described al Shabaab as non-Muslims because, he said, “they kill civilians and Islam does not allow that”.
The Somali president urged all Somalis to take their part in restoring peace and removing the foreign and local extremists in Somalia.
The demonstration ended as local traditional dancers and singers presented national songs against al Shabaab’s acts, calling for national unity for all Somalis. During the demonstration images of civilians killed on Tuesday 4th October were also presented.
The demonstration came four days after a huge explosion by al Shabaab group killed almost 100 civilians, mostly students, and injured 200 others last Tuesday in Mogadishu.
http://www.raxanreeb.com/?p=
President and PM participate in anti-al Shabaab demonstrations
09 Oct- Source: Radio Mogadishu- 159 words
Somali head of State Sharif Sheikh Ahmed and Somali Prime Minister Abdiweli Mohamed Ali have today jointly participated in a mass celebration in Stadium Konis where hundreds turned out to condemn al Shabaab.
The demonstrations were organized by the Banadir administration and saw the participation of all 16 districts of Mogadishu. The Mogadishu Mayor Mohamud Ahmed Nur Tarsan, who was the main organizer of the demonstrations, said that the Mogadishu residents were angered at the latest actions by al Shabaab, which claimed the lives of close to 100 people.
The Somali Prime Minister Abdiweli Mohamed Ali called on the Mogadishu residents to join hands and stand by the security forces in order to eradicate al Shabaab.
The Somali head of state send his heartfelt message of condolences to the family friends and victims of the 4th October tragedy that claimed the lives of close to one hundred innocent Somali people with many of the victims being innocent school children.
Al Shabaab ban use of former Afgoye abattoir
09 Oct- Source: Radio Bar-kulan-112 words
Al Shabaab militants in Lower Shabelle region have banned locals from using the former Afgeye abattoir and ordered locals to buy meat from a newly-established butchery in the area.
Locals told Bar-kulan that the militia has also banned them from selling meat inside their residential areas, threatening to fine defaulters with $500.
It is not yet clear why the rebel group has opted to close down the former abattoir but locals suspect that the militia is trying to manage butcheries in the area.
Meanwhile, al Shabaab have ordered people in the area not to discuss the recent truck bombing that killed over seventy people in the capital, Mogadishu.
Somali president: al Shabaab are new colonialists
10 Oct- Source: Mareeg Online- 106 words
The interim president of Somali government, Sheikh Sharif Sh. Ahmed said that al Shabaab were new colonialists, reports said.
In a demonstration in Mogadishu yesterday attended by TFG officials, the president said that al Shabaab was a new protectorate going to massacre students, civilians and all people and there should be scrubbed out from Somalia.
Mr. Sharif said, “ Would we leave the country to disobedient people, criminals, religious thieves -Mooryan-diimeed, no we must liberate them, we will not accept them”.
http://www.mareeg.com/fidsan.
Al Shabaab force students to dress like militia
10 Oct- Source: Radio Mogadishu- 205 words
There is a an increasing fear facing the parents in Elesha Biyaha after armed young militias were forced to wear school uniforms thus creating confusion between the extremists and the students.
Locals say that the militia were seen boarding public vehicles whilst dressed like students, creating fear among parents and school-going students.
Reports suggest that parents have appealed to the group to have mercy on the children.
Anonymous sources suggest that parents are distressed following the decision to force students to dress like militia, placing the lives of the innocent school children at risk.
An elderly man residing in the area stated al Shabaab have changed their tactics and is now focusing on disrupting education which is the backbone of the country’s economy.
Some of the students have not gone to schools fearing that their life may be endangered by the militants not only using their uniforms but also taking arms on civilian buses.
Pro-government militia in Hiiran intercept explosives
09 Oct- Source: Radio Bar-kulan- 166 words
A pro-government militia in parts of rebel-held Hiran region of Somalia has seized a car laden with explosives at Jawil area on Saturday night, just five days after al Shabaab killed several people in a suicide attack in the capital, Mogadishu.
The pro-government militia said it has intercepted a car full of explosives from Beledweyne town, the capital of Hiran region.
Col. Issack Ali Mohamed, who is one of the pro-government militia leaders in the region, told Bar-kulan that his fighters have seized the car laden with land mines and grenades.
He said two militant men who were ferrying the explosives escaped from the arrest.
He said they suspected that the rebel group wanted to use the car to carry out suicide attacks in the area.
Earlier last Tuesday, an explosion outside government buildings in Mogadishu killed at least 70 people and wounded 50 others including students, soldiers and civilians.
Al Shabaab immediately claimed responsibility for the attack and threatened to carry out more similar ones.
Somaliland president visit Las Anod city
10 Oct- Source: Somalilandpress, Radio Hargaysa- 134 words
In a historic visit Somaliland president Ahmed Siilaanyo today visited the city of Las Anod, the capital of Sool, which has recently seen the assassination of Somaliland officials by insurgents.
President Ahmed Siilaanyo becomes the first president to visit the city since Somaliland forces took over from Puntland militia in 2007. The region is disputed between Somaliland, Puntland and SSC, a local unionist group whose aim is the creation of its own regional administration in the (Sool, Sanaag and Cayn or SSC) regions.
Speaking at the Hotel Hamdi, the president promised to make security a top priority. He went on to declare: “Sool state needs development …Our government will not allow a few individuals to terrorise the resident of Las Anod who are a law-abiding and hard working citizens of Somaliland.”.
Explosions rock al Shabaab base in Taredisho, Mogadishu
10 Oct- Source: Bar-kulna, Badweyn Online, Radio Mogadishu- 111 words
Reports from Mogadishu say a huge explosion could be heard inside a militant base in Taredisho area, just 13 KM from the capital, Mogadishu.
The explosion is believed to be an improvised explosive device that went off during a developing process.
The number of casualties as a result from the explosion has yet to be disclosed. Al Shabaab released no details of the explosion.
Elsewhere, al Shabaab have set up new checkpoints at the junction in Elasha Biyaha area.
Local drivers condemned the militia for their increasing number of illegal checkpoints in the areas, saying they are extorting huge amount of money from commuters.
REGIONAL MEDIA
Kenya sets up bases to fight Somali raiders
09 Oct- Source: Daily Nation- 319 words
Kenya has established six patrol bases near border with Somalia following the recent kidnapping of two tourists in Lamu.
The bases at Manda, Shella, Kiwayu and Kipuni will comprise personnel from different security agencies in what analysts see as an attempt to assure of the government’s ability to contain Somali raids at the Coast.
Lamu West district commissioner Stephen Ikua said on Sunday Kenya was stepping up sea patrols “to guard our border territories and visitors and Kenyans should feel secure whenever they are around”.
Reports at the weekend said a speedboat suspected to be transporting pirates towards the Kenyan territory was bombed by foreign naval forces patrolling the Gulf of Aden.
Local security sources said the attack was carried out near Ras Kamboni.
“The pirates were in shallow waters when they were spotted by foreign naval forces on patrol in the area.
“They sped off to the mainland and abandoned their firearms and the boat in waters,” said the Kenyan security officer.
A spokesman for the Department of Defence said the Kenyan military was not involved in the operation.
“There are many foreign forces patrolling the Somali coast as a result of an increase in piracy incidents maybe one of them was involved in the attack,” a spokesman at DoD said.
The government last week set up a central command to coordinate security operations on the Kenya-Somalia border.
The control centre will link police and military operations in securing the border on land, sea and air.
A senior security officer told the Nation the idea was mooted after it was realised that no single agency could detect and repel foreigners on its own.
The proposed command centre would operate round the clock, but no decision had been made whether it will be hosted by the Navy or Army.
OIC, USAID discuss prospects for cooperation in Somalia
09 Oct- Source: Saudi press Agency- 148 words
The Assistant Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), Ambassador Atta El-Mannan Bakhit, met here today with Assistant Director General of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Nancy Lindberg and Envoy of the U.S. President to the OIC Rashad Hussein.
Ambassador Bakhit briefed the U.S. delegation on the OIC humanitarian activities in the OIC Member States, as well as on the current situation in Somalia and the efforts of the OIC Humanitarian Alliance in dealing with the critical humanitarian conditions in Somalia.
The delegation expressed its appreciation for the role played by the OIC in Somalia, which has helped to improve conditions in Mogadishu and the surrounding areas.
The two sides discussed prospects of joint cooperation in Somalia in the coming period. The U.S. delegation also discussed with Ambassador Bakhit ways of cooperation with the OIC in other affected Islamic countries.
UN asked to intervene in war on al Shabaab
10 Oct- Source: Daily Nation- 76 words
The Kenyan parliamentary select committee on defecece has asked international security agents to intervene in the fight against Somali militants. Speaking from Coast Provisional Commissioner Earnest Munyi`s office, the committee’s chairman Mr Aden Keynan said the UN should help fight al Shabaab. Mr Keynan attributed the increased attacks to instability in Somalia. He added that there was a need to be a vigilant in vetting foreigners coming into the country and sealing of all porous borders.
French military kills suspected Somali militants near Kenya
10 Oct- Source: the Standard- 267 words
Six suspected members of the al Shabaab were allegedly killed while four others arrested following a fierce exchange of fire with French military troops at Raas Kaambooni near the Kenya-Somalia border.
French security team joined its Kenyan counterparts in the fight against insurgents responsible for insecurity in Lamu, where a French tourist was abducted more than a week ago.
According to reliable sources, members of the terror group were spotted by the French military in two boats as they attempted to cross the Kenya border. The source said the French military cornered them in the deep sea where a fierce exchange of gunfire ensued. The source added the four terror suspects were arrested moments after disembarking from their boat while six others are believed to have drowned.
Lamu West District Commissioner [DC] Stephen Ikua confirmed the incident but declined to divulge details. “It’s true the incident took place but was conducted by French military,” he added. Ikua, however, was quick to disclose that the operation took place inside Somali waters.
The DC made the remarks after holding a security meeting in Lamu at a hotel. Three Lamu MPs attended the meeting. He said security patrols had been intensified along the Kenya-Somalia border. “At the moment, we are undertaking patrols along the sea, land and air to ensure both tourists and locals are safe,” he added.
The DC said a curfew banning fishing at night has been lifted but said no vessel will be allowed to leave Kenyan waters. He said all boats venturing into the deep sea will be subjected to security checks and urged the fishermen to cooperate.
Second batch of Bahraini relief aid arrives in Somalia
09 Oct- Source: Bahrain ness Agency- 209 words
The second batch of relief consignments comprising 40 tons in foodstuffs and medical aid dispatched by the Kingdom of Bahrain to the brotherly people of the Republic of Somalia arrived at Mogadishu Airport today in compliance with the directives of His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa Monarch of the Kingdom of Bahrain – Honorary President of the Royal Charity Foundation – and directives of His Highness Shaikh Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Royal Charity Foundation.
The delegation was led by Hussain Sa’eed Abdurrahman assistant secretary-general of the Royal Charity Foundation (RCF) accompanied with Adel Al-Mahmeed RCF’s director of public relations and Adel Al-Jar from Bahrain Red Crescent Society as members of the delegation who delivered the consignment to the Somali Red Crescent Society.The head of Bahrain’s delegation met with Somali officials: Mr. Abdurrahman Abdi and Mr. Ali Farih . Mr. Abdi expressed gratitude and appreciation to His Majesty the King for the humanitarian assistance and noble feelings towards the famine-stricken Somali people and thanked the Kingdom of Bahrain’s government and people for their generous support and donations aimed at the alleviation of suffering from the drought victims.More cargoes of relief assistance are expected to be dispatched at short intervals.
http://www.bna.bh/portal/en/
AMISOM to mop up pirates near the border
08 Oct- Source: Nairobi Star- 350 words
The African Union army in Somalia will only get near the Kenyan border after it clears the 5 percent of al Shabaab militias holding on the Capital, Mogadishu. The African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) force commander, Fredrick Mugisha yesterday said that in the meantime the over 9,000 army has to concentrate in the city where there are remnants of the militia battling the transitional federal government forces.
Mugisha said: “We are still concentrating with phase one of our operations. It is only after this phase that we might move near the marauding pirates in Southern Somalia near Kismayu and also Central Somalia.” The commander could not however state when that would happen arguing that military operations cannot not be discussed in detail.
Mugishai’s comments follow the kidnapping of a French tourist along the Kenyan coast in Lamu by pirates. Ms Marie Didieu was abducted from a villa at Manda island. She has since been under kidnap as her abductors demand for a ransom. The kidnap has thrown security agencies in Kenya into spin with a combined force of Kenya Navy and Kenya Army deployed at the Somalia border.
Mugisha acknowledged the challenge facing the Kenya coast, but said Amisom could only move near the Kismayu area after dealing with the remaining 5 percent turf of the al Shabaab in Mogadishu. He said Amisom is focused to secure Mogadishu, Central and Southern Somalia near Kismayu.
Mugisha also said that despite continued terror attacks in Somalia, in particular Mogadishu, Amisom has managed to reduce them. He said: “Terror attacks continue but in the last one month we managed to stop about four planned attacks. Attacks happen but they have been greatly reduced by Amisom.”
Mugisha said that the attacks are cowardly and cannot be matched with the military strength of the TFG and Amisom. A Tuesday blast in Mogadishu killed more than 100 students seeking scholarship in Mogadishu. He said they faced manpower challenges if they were to move out of Mogadishu and hoped that they get 3, 000 more soldiers request as soon as possible. Our partners need to do more to change the unstable situation in Somalia, said Mugisha.
http://www.the-star.co.ke/
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
AU, Somali forces seize Mogadishu rebel bases
10 Oct- Source: AFP- 187 words
African Union and Somali government troops said Monday they seized key positions from Islamist insurgents during an offensive to flush out the last rebel pockets in Mogadishu. “Operations have started to take control of the northern corridor and drive the al Qaeda-linked extremists out of the city,” the government said in a statement.
The forces took a former pasta factory building, two key junctions and two districts in the northeast of the city, giving them control of movement into Mogadishu from the northern front. “The pasta factory compound was an operational hub for the extremists in which they shell civilian targets. This operation is intended to save the lives of the people who have returned to their homes,” the statement added.
The AU and Somali government forces began the offensive on Saturday to expel remnant Islamist rebels left in Mogadishu after al Shabaab fighters abandoned most of their positions there in August.
The drive comes nearly a week after the insurgents carried out their worst ever suicide attack in Mogadishu, killing at least 82 people and demonstrating they were still able to wreak havoc deep inside the city.
Iran sends 5th medical team to Somalia
10 Oct – Source: Trend News Agency – 244 words
Iran’s Red Crescent Society (IRCS) will send a 5th medical team to Somalia today to help the famine-stricken people of the African country, FNA reported quoting senior Iranian Red Crescent officials as saying on Monday.
Head of the IRCS Relief and Rescue Organization Mahmoud Mozaffar said the 10-member team includes volunteer medics and physicians from Iran’s Markazi (Central) province and will leave Tehran for Mogadishu later today.
The team will stay there for 17 days.
IRCS has recently inaugurated a central clinic in Mogadishu to help the drought and faminestricken people of the country.
It had earlier erected 6 medical camps in Somalia.
The Islamic Republic of Iran was among the first countries which rushed to the aid of the Somali people and it has dispatched over 14 aid cargos to the African nation thus far.
On Wednesday, Iran shipped its largest cargo of humanitarian aids weighing about 5000 tons to Somalia.
The cargo contains medicine, rice, flour, cereal, sugar, and some other goods.
A number of Iranian officials, including Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi, have so far visited Somalia to inspect the famine-hit areas and oversee the process of delivering aid to the country.
According to the World Food Program, drought and famine have affected more than 11.8 million people in the Horn of Africa and created a triangle of hunger where the borders of Ethiopia, Kenya, and Somalia meet.
Somalia has been the hardest-hit country by what is being described as the worst drought in the Horn of Africa in 60 years.
http://en.trend.az/news/
When the uprooted put down roots
09 Oct – Source: New York Times – 884 words
At the Saturday farmer’s market in City Heights, a major portal for refugees, Khadija Musame, a Somali, arranges her freshly picked pumpkin leaves and lablab beans amid a United Nations of produce, including water spinach grown by a Cambodian refugee and amaranth, a grain harvested by Sarah Salie, who fled rebels in Liberia. Eaten with a touch of lemon by Africans, and coveted by Southeast Asians for soups, this crop is always a sell-out.
Among the regular customers at the New Roots farm stand are Congolese women in flowing dresses, Somali Muslims in headscarves, Latino men wearing broad-brimmed hats and Burundian mothers in brightly patterned textiles who walk home balancing boxes of produce on their heads. New Roots, with 85 growers from 12 countries, is one of more than 50 community farms dedicated to refugee agriculture, an entrepreneurial movement spreading across the country.
American agriculture has historically been forged by newcomers, like the Scandinavians who helped settle the Great Plains; today’s growers are more likely to be rural subsistence farmers from Africa and Asia, resettled in and around cities from New York, Burlington, Vt., and Lowell, Mass., to Minneapolis, Phoenix and San Diego.
Food prices to be even more volatile, U.N. says
10 Oct – Source: Reuters – 494 words
Food prices are likely to become more volatile in coming years, increasing the risk that more poor people in import-dependent countries will go hungry, the United Nations said in an annual report on food insecurity published on Monday.
Global food price indices hit record highs in February and were a factor in the Arab Spring of unrest in north Africa and the Middle East.
Prices have since eased but the U.N. report said economic uncertainty, low cereal reserves, closer links between energy and agriculture markets and rising risks of weather shocks were likely to cause more dramatic price swings in the future.
“Food price volatility featuring high prices is likely to continue and possibly increase,” the Food and Agriculture Organisation, the World Food Programme and the International Fund for Agricultural Development said in the joint report.
“Demand from consumers in rapidly growing economies will increase, population continues to grow, and further growth in biofuels (displacing food crops) will place additional demands on the food system.” The report said that poor farmers and consumers in small importer countries, particularly in Africa, would be more vulnerable to shortages as a result.
It said short-term price swings had long-term impacts on development, depriving young children in vulnerable areas of key nutrients, which permanently cut their future earning capacity and increased the likelihood that they would remain poor.
The report found that many countries in Africa and other import-dependent regions continued to suffer problems caused by the world food and economic crises of 2006-2008.
And it said crises such as the current famine in the Horn of Africa were challenging the U.N. goal of cutting the number of people suffering hunger to roughly 600 million people by 2015, compared to 1.02 billion in 2009.
In 2010, the United Nations said the number had fallen for the first time in 15 years, to 925 million. But it did not update the annual figure in the latest report, saying it was reviewing its methodology and wanted to start providing more timely updates.
http://www.reuters.com/
Somalian piracy taints Kenya’s tourism industry
10 Oct- Source: BBC- 2:23 min words
In recent weeks, two western women have been kidnapped from the Kenyan coast and taken to Somalia.
Judith Tebbutt from the UK and Marie Dedieu from France are thought to be being held for ransom.
The attacks have damaged Kenya’s tourism industry which makes up 10% of the country’s foreign exchange earnings.
There are warnings that Somali pirates are about to become much more active as the monsoon season ends.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/
OPINION/EDITORIAL/CULTURE
Writer got it wrong on famine in Somalia
09 Oct- Source: the Eastern African- 274 words
The EastAfrican in the issue of Oct 3-9, published a story by Rasna Warah which contained a series of errors.
Warah’s story erroneously states that the World Food Programme made a declaration of famine in southern Somalia on July 20.
In fact, the announcement on July 20 that famine conditions were occurring in two areas of southern Somalia came from the UN Humanitarian Co-ordinator, based on data from the FSNAU and FEWS NET — not from WFP.
All estimates of the number of people affected by the drought and famine conditions in Somalia come from two technical agencies, not from WFP.
The writer implied a link between the release of the 2011 Monitoring Group report and the declaration of famine in Bakool and Lower Shebelle.
WFP had absolutely no control over the timing of either of these events, but along with other agencies had been sounding the alarm since November about the deteriorating humanitarian situation due to drought in Somalia and elsewhere in the Horn of Africa.
Moreover, the writer claims that WFP is fundraising for areas of southern Somalia to which we have no access.
This is not true.
While it is true that we do not have access to much of southern Somalia due to insecurity and threats against our staff, WFP is focusing its efforts over the next three months on providing food assistance to 1.9 million people in areas of Somalia where we do have access.
Other agencies have access to areas of the south that we cannot reach, and we are urging donors to support those organizations who have both access and capacity to provide food assistance in those regions.