A disaster that needs to be averted

The humanitarian disaster that Africa would soon be facing could pose a challenge to the world community and may well be an indicator of worse to come. It is predicted that more than 14 million people across East Africa are facing what humanitarian organisations label as the "lethal mix" - that is soaring food prices, drought and conflict. "Rising food prices on top of drought this year means that more and more people than in the previous years are falling over the edge into destitution," Peter Smerdon, spokesperson for the World Food Programme in Nairobi, said.

The problem at hand is not new, as experts have already raised the alarm. But what is needed now is not just a reminder of the problem as much as offering solutions before it turns into an all-out disaster. For that to happen, the entire world community is required to be engaged.