http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportID=79883

NAIROBI, 19 August 2008 (IRIN) - Pastoralists in East Africa's arid and semi-arid lands (ASAL) need to be empowered to adapt to, and survive, climate change, a report by a humanitarian organisation says.

"Pastoralists across East Africa are starting to learn to live with the reality of climate change, adapting as they can to its impact," Oxfam International says in a report launched on 18 August in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi. 

... 

According to an August 18 field mission report, Pastoralists Living on the Edge in Kenya, released by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, climate change also plays a crucial role in inter-ethnic conflicts among the pastoralist communities in northern Kenya. Thousands of environmental refugees flee from drought, which results in pasture and water shortages for livestock.

The report says pastoralists living in the ASAL areas are bearing the brunt of adverse consequences, particularly food insecurity due to droughts, floods and livestock diseases.

"There is a humanitarian crisis looming in Northern Kenya as pastoralists have resorted to eating wild fruits and gum arabica to contain hunger. This is a community which has been self-reliant on food as the majority of them were farmers," the OCHA report said, adding: "It is about time donors and government reconsider their strategies and empower pastoralist communities by directing funding support to pastoralists' institutions."

In its report, Oxfam recommended that governments within East Africa should protect the land and resource rights of pastoralists, eliminate inappropriate development policies and provide support to the pastoralist communities through cash payments in place of food aid.

http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0815/p06s01-wosc.html

Kabul, Afghanistan - A Wednesday attack that killed three Western aid workers in Afghanistan raises concerns that the Taliban is attempting to force the expulsion of all foreign humanitarian workers from the troubled country.

"This was the worst attack in many years and is a major escalation of hostilities," says Sayed Rahim Satar, vice chairman of the Afghan NGO Coordinating Bureau.

The assault signals a shift in the Taliban's strategy toward a policy of direct confrontation with nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), says Waliullah Rahmani of the Kabul Center for Strategic Studies.

"This appears to be the beginning of a new approach," he says, "to surround Kabul and eliminate any foreign or government presence in the area."

http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportID=79881 

KABUL, 19 August 2008 (IRIN) - Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Afghanistan Kai Eide has called on donors to respond quickly to a US$404 million appeal made a month ago to ease the impact of drought and high food prices.

About five million vulnerable Afghans have been pushed into high-risk food insecurity over the past few months, according to aid agencies.

...

The Afghan government and UN agencies on 19 July launched a joint appealfor over $404 million to provide emergency food aid to millions of vulnerable Afghans affected by drought and high food prices, support agriculture and animal husbandry, and deliver live-saving medical assistance.

The appeal includes $185 million for the UN World Food Programme (WFP) to procure and distribute 100,000 tonnes of food aid to five million most needy people. 

...

UNAMA's capacity to be boosted

According to UNAMA, 35 percent of Afghanistan's estimated 26.6 million population cannot meet their minimum daily food requirements and most households spend about 85 percent of their income on food, compared to 65 percent in 2005.

UN officials and aid workers say a "deteriorating humanitarian situation" has been in evidence over the past few years as a result of the insurgency, drought, and aid ineffectiveness.

In a bid to respond to the growing needs, Eide said UNAMA's humanitarian capacity would be strengthened (both in terms of personnel and resources) to effectively "forecast, analyse and coordinate" relief activities.

"Crime" of aid convoy attacks

Meanwhile, insurgents and other armed groups have continued attacking and looting commercial trucks carrying WFP food aid.

Eide called such attacks a "crime against the poorest" and accused the attackers of "stealing from the poorest" and "attacking the poorest" people.