lynsey addario, photographer

Horn of Africa Drought

Doctors without Borders staff handles a food distribution on behalf of WFP, and conduct an ambulatory therpeutic feeding program for severely malnourished children in the village of Mayan, in Turkana, Kenya, August 15, 2011. The horn of Africa is suffering one of the worst droughts in years, displacing thousands, and killing others through severe malnutrition. In response to the increasing severity of the situation MSF is operating an emergency nutrition intervention in Turkana.Severely malnourished children are treated in the government hospital and monitored by MSF staff in Lokituan, Turkana.
  
Kenyan women pull water out from a hole in the ground the morning after it rained for the first time in over a year in the region, in Sesame, in Turkana, Kenya, August 14, 2011. The horn of Africa is suffering one of the worst droughts in years, displacing thousands, and killing others through severe malnutrition.
  
Kenyan women await food handouts and nutrition checks by Doctors without Borders during an ambulatory therapeutic feeding program for severely malnourished children in villages across Turkana, Kenya, August 15, 2011. Though there is always serious food insecurity problems in the Turkana region of the country, this year, as a result of a devastating drought, lack of grazing spaces, increased livestock deaths and climbing food prices, the food insecurity reached a critical level in several areas, resulting in emergency levels of malnutrition. 

The horn of Africa is suffering one of the worst droughts in years, displacing thousands, and killing others through severe malnutrition. In response to the increasing severity of the situation MSF is operating an emergency nutrition intervention in Turkana.(Credit: Lynsey Addario/ MSF/ VII Network)Severely malnourished children are treated in the government hospital and monitored by MSF staff in Lokituan, Turkana.
     
  
Kenyan women await food handouts and nutrition checks by Doctors without Borders during an ambulatory therapeutic feeding program for severely malnourished children in villages across Turkana, Kenya, August 15, 2011. Though there is always serious food insecurity problems in the Turkana region of the country, this year, as a result of a devastating drought, lack of grazing spaces, increased livestock deaths and climbing food prices, the food insecurity reached a critical level in several areas, resulting in emergency levels of malnutrition. 


   
Somali refugees wait to be relocated in Dagahaley camp by IOM from the area of new arrivals to IFO camp, where they have new shelters awaiting them, at Dadaab camp, on the Kenyan border with Somalia, August 20, 2011. Dadaab, with roughly 400,000 refugees, is the largest refugee camps in the world. The horn of Africa is suffering one of the worst droughts in years, displacing thousands, and killing others through severe malnutrition. In response to the increasing severity of the situation MSF is operating an emergency nutrition intervention in Dadaab.
   
Somali refugees await a nutrition check at a health post in Dadaab camp after fleeing a prolonged drought in Somalia, near the Kenyan border with Somalia, August 20, 2011. Dadaab, with roughly 400,000 refugees, Dadaab is the largest refugee camp in the world. The camp is grossly over capacity, and the refugees experience an ever-shrinking access to essential services such as water, sanitation, food and shelter, also because they have been sharing their rations with the new arrivals. At the current pace of arrival MSF estimates that the camp’s population will total 500’000 before the end of 2011, and living conditions are only expected to deteriorate further. Without a long-term solution in sight, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is deeply concerned about the fate of the hundreds of thousands of people who seek refuge in Kenya due to the ongoing conflict in Somalia combined with a looming nutritional crisis after several years of droughThe horn of Africa is suffering one of the worst droughts in years, displacing thousands, and killing others through severe malnutrition.The horn of Africa is suffering one of the worst droughts in years, displacing thousands, and killing others through severe malnutrition. In response to the increasing severity of the situation MSF is operating an emergency nutrition intervention in Turkana.
     
  
Fatuma Mohammed, who is roughly 8 months pregnant, sits with her severely malnourished daughter the morning after one of her daughters died in the intensive care section of the MSF hospital in Dagahaley camp, near the Kenyan border with Somalia, August 20, 2011. Fatuma, like thousands of other Somali refugees, fled a prolonged drought in Somalia about two months ago; the daughter in this image died the following day. Dadaab, with roughly 400,000 refugees, Dadaab is the largest refugee camp in the world. The camp is grossly over capacity, and the refugees experience an ever-shrinking access to essential services such as water, sanitation, food and shelter, also because they have been sharing their rations with the new arrivals. At the current pace of arrival MSF estimates that the camp’s population will total 500’000 before the end of 2011, and living conditions are only expected to deteriorate further. Without a long-term solution in sight, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is deeply concerned about the fate of the hundreds of thousands of people who seek refuge in Kenya due to the ongoing conflict in Somalia combined with a looming nutritional crisis after several years of droughThe horn of Africa is suffering one of the worst droughts in years, displacing thousands, and killing others through severe malnutrition.The horn of Africa is suffering one of the worst droughts in years, displacing thousands, and killing others through severe malnutrition. In response to the increasing severity of the situation MSF is operating an emergency nutrition intervention in Turkana.
   
Family members and neighbors prepare the grave for the daughter of Fatuma Mohammad, who died overnight from malnutrition and complications associated with her weakened immune system, in Dagahaley camp, August 23, 2011. Fatuma Mohammed lost two daughters in two days to malnutrition and general organ failure, about five months after fleeing Somalia; she is 8 months pregnant. Most families fleeing Somalia arrive exhausted, hungry, and with little to no belongings after making sometimes a month-long journey on foot. Dadaab, with roughly 400,000 refugees, is the largest refugee camps in the world. The horn of Africa is suffering one of the worst droughts in years, displacing thousands, and killing others through severe malnutrition. In response to the increasing severity of the situation MSF is operating an emergency nutrition intervention in Dadaab.
   
Somali mothers wit with their children being treated for severe malnutrition in the Benadir Hospital in Mogadishu, Somalia, August 29, 2011. Medina and her family arrived from Dinsor to Mogadishu a few months prior, like thousands of Somalis who have traveled to the capital city of Mogadishu to escape extreme drought conditions in their villages--an estimated 1.7 million people have become drought displaced, according to an UNOCHA report. The horn of Africa is suffering one of the worst droughts in years, displacing thousands, and killing others through severe malnutrition, measles, and diarrhea. The UN estimates roughly 29,000 children have already died because of drought-related illnesses, but Islamic Relief, and organization that has people on the ground in Somalia, estimate that number is much higher.
     
  
Somalis tend to their malnourished children in the Benadir Hospital in Mogadishu, Somalia, August 25, 2011. The hospital is overflowing with people sleeping on the floors throughout most wards. Thousands of Somalis have traveled to neighboring countries and to the capital city of Mogadishu to escape extreme drought conditions in their villages--an estimated 1.7 million people have become drought displaced, according to an UNOCHA report. The horn of Africa is suffering one of the worst droughts in years, displacing thousands, and killing others through severe malnutrition, measles, and diarrhea.
  
Medina Hassan Sagar, 50, sits with her youngest of four children, Isaac Ibrahim Cotupo, 7, who is being treated for severe malnutrition in the Benadir Hospital in Mogadishu, Somalia, August 29, 2011. Medina and her family arrived from Dinsor to Mogadishu a few months prior, like thousands of Somalis who have traveled to the capital city of Mogadishu to escape extreme drought conditions in their villages--an estimated 1.7 million people have become drought displaced, according to an UNOCHA report. The horn of Africa is suffering one of the worst droughts in years, displacing thousands, and killing others through severe malnutrition, measles, and diarrhea. The UN estimates roughly 29,000 children have already died because of drought-related illnesses, but Islamic Relief, and organization that has people on the ground in Somalia, estimate that number is much higher.
  
A Somali doctor checks for a heartbeat as Abbas Nishe, 1.5 years, struggles to fight severe malnutrition in the Benadir Hospital in Mogadishu, Somalia, August 25, 2011. The hospital is overflowing with people sleeping on the floors throughout most wards. Thousands of Somalis have traveled to neighboring countries and to the capital city of Mogadishu to escape extreme drought conditions in their villages--an estimated 1.7 million people have become drought displaced, according to an UNOCHA report. The horn of Africa is suffering one of the worst droughts in years, displacing thousands, and killing others through severe malnutrition, measles, and diarrhea.
     
  
A woman waits in a Somali Hospital. Thousands of Somalis have traveled to neighboring countries and to the capital city of Mogadishu to escape extreme drought conditions in their villages--an estimated 1.7 million people have become drought displaced, and tens of thousands have perished. The horn of Africa is suffering one of the worst droughts in years, displacing thousands, and killing others through severe malnutrition, measles, and diarrhea.
  
Medina Barako, around 50, lies in the Benadir Hospital ill with diarrhea, and possibly tuburculosis, after she arrived from Dinsor to a camp for internally displaced in Mogadishu, Somalia, August 29, 2011. Thousands of Somalis have traveled to neighboring countries and to the capital city of Mogadishu to escape extreme drought conditions in their villages--an estimated 1.7 million people have become drought displaced, and tens of thousands have perished. The horn of Africa is suffering one of the worst droughts in years, displacing thousands, and killing others through severe malnutrition, measles, and diarrhea.
  
Somalis suffer from diarrhea in the Benadir Hospital in Mogadishu, Somalia, August 26, 2011. The hospital is overflowing with people sleeping on the floors throughout most wards. Thousands of Somalis have traveled to neighboring countries and to the capital city of Mogadishu to escape extreme drought conditions in their villages--an estimated 1.7 million people have become drought displaced, according to an UNOCHA report. The horn of Africa is suffering one of the worst droughts in years, displacing thousands, and killing others through severe malnutrition, measles, and diarrhea.
     
  
Somali's line up for food distribution on August 25, 2011. Thousands of Somalis have traveled to neighboring countries and to the capital city of Mogadishu to escape extreme drought conditions in their villages--an estimated 1.7 million people have become drought displaced, according to an UNOCHA report. The horn of Africa is suffering one of the worst droughts in years, displacing thousands, and killing others through severe malnutrition, measles, and diarrhea.
  
Somalis guards walk through the rubble of the former frontline between Ugandan troops and Al Shabaab in the Ali Kameen intersection in the city of Mogadishu, Somalia, August 25, 2011. Thousands of Somalis have traveled to neighboring countries and to the capital city of Mogadishu to escape extreme drought conditions in their villages--an estimated 1.7 million people have become drought displaced, according to an UNOCHA report. The horn of Africa is suffering one of the worst droughts in years, displacing thousands, and killing others through severe malnutrition, measles, and diarrhea.
  
Somalis guards walk through the rubble of the former frontline between Ugandan troops and Al Shabaab in the Ali Kameen intersection in the city of Mogadishu, Somalia, August 25, 2011. Thousands of Somalis have traveled to neighboring countries and to the capital city of Mogadishu to escape extreme drought conditions in their villages--an estimated 1.7 million people have become drought displaced, according to an UNOCHA report. The horn of Africa is suffering one of the worst droughts in years, displacing thousands, and killing others through severe malnutrition, measles, and diarrhea.
     
  
Somalis guards walk through the rubble of the former frontline between Ugandan troops and Al Shabaab in the Ali Kameen intersection in the city of Mogadishu, Somalia, August 25, 2011. Thousands of Somalis have traveled to neighboring countries and to the capital city of Mogadishu to escape extreme drought conditions in their villages--an estimated 1.7 million people have become drought displaced, according to an UNOCHA report. The horn of Africa is suffering one of the worst droughts in years, displacing thousands, and killing others through severe malnutrition, measles, and diarrhea.
  
Aminacido Sheikh sits with one of her four children after arriving from the Yaksheet district 25 days ago to live with other Somalis amisdt the ruins of buildings and in dire conditions in the Badbadoo camp for internally displaced in Mogadishu, Somalia, August 29, 2011. Aninacido says 'We haven't received any rations. I don't know how to explain how we feed our children. My husband goes in the morning and comes back with food.' Thousands of Somalis have traveled to neighboring countries and to the capital city of Mogadishu to escape extreme drought conditions in their villages--an estimated 1.7 million people have become drought displaced, according to an UNOCHA report. The horn of Africa is suffering one of the worst droughts in years, displacing thousands, and killing others through severe malnutrition, measles, and diarrhea.
  
Somalis live side by side in overcrowded camps for internally displaced people because of the drought in the rest of the country in Mogadishu, Somalia, August 27, 2011. Thousands of Somalis have traveled to neighboring countries and to the capital city of Mogadishu to escape extreme drought conditions in their villages--an estimated 1.7 million people have become drought displaced, according to an UNOCHA report. The horn of Africa is suffering one of the worst droughts in years, displacing thousands, and killing others through severe malnutrition, measles, and diarrhea.
     
  
Somalis live side by side in overcrowded camps and makeshift shelters for internally displaced people because of the drought in the rest of the country in Mogadishu, Somalia, August 27, 2011. Thousands of Somalis have traveled to neighboring countries and to the capital city of Mogadishu to escape extreme drought conditions in their villages--an estimated 1.7 million people have become drought displaced, according to an UNOCHA report. The horn of Africa is suffering one of the worst droughts in years, displacing thousands, and killing others through severe malnutrition, measles, and diarrhea.
  
A boy lies immobile, ill with measles, in a camp for internally displaced Somalis on a morning where at least five children were being buried at dawn in this camp, after succumbing to measles in Mogadishu, Somalia, August 27, 2011. Locals claim that at least five children are dying per day because of the poor conditions in the camps--measles, malnutrition, and dehydration contributing to some of the highest numbers of deaths. Thousands of Somalis have traveled to neighboring countries and to the capital city of Mogadishu to escape extreme drought conditions in their villages--an estimated 1.7 million people have become drought displaced, according to an UNOCHA report. The horn of Africa is suffering one of the worst droughts in years, displacing thousands, and killing others through severe malnutrition, measles, and diarrhea.
  
Somalis busy at least five children at dawn who their parents claimed died of measles in the Trabone camp for internally displaced in Mogadishu, Somalia, August 27, 2011. Locals claim that at least five children are dying per day because of the poor conditions in the camps--measles, malnutrition, and dehydration contributing to some of the highest numbers of deaths. Thousands of Somalis have traveled to neighboring countries and to the capital city of Mogadishu to escape extreme drought conditions in their villages--an estimated 1.7 million people have become drought displaced, according to an UNOCHA report. The horn of Africa is suffering one of the worst droughts in years, displacing thousands, and killing others through severe malnutrition, measles, and diarrhea.