News Item 015-非洲饥荒

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Somaliland is one of the poorest African regions. Its rural population is struggling to make a living in the best of times, but drought（干旱）makes it impossible.

“I am 80. In the 80 years of my life, I’ve never seen such severe drought. It has killed so many animals and caused so much famine（饥荒）. Our lives are in danger.” The situation is similar in the neighboring Punt land region and parts of Ethiopia. The United Nations last month called for urgent aid to save 1.7 million people in the affected parts of Somalia.

“Communities are losing their means for survival, and we need to stop this loss of lives and forced displacement（迁移）as people have no other option than to move in search of food, water and income.”

But when there is no food and water for miles and miles around, moving may be futile（徒劳的）. Some Ethiopian farmers have crossed the border to try to escape famine.

“The drought has been raging（严重）for three years in Ethiopia. We were told that there were pastures（草地）on the other side of the border. But when we got here, we found nothing.”