East African leaders fear famine could weaken regional economy - East African leaders wound up their day-long talks Friday on the region’s drought and famine, fearing that the crisis could lead to further weakening of their economies, create routes for illegal trade and smuggling of deadly arms.

“A large number of communities have been displaced with grave consequences for their traditional means of livelihood,” Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki, told the Horn of Africa Summit on the region’s famine, attended by a host of leaders.

The leaders expressed fears that the drought and famine had the potential to ignite political and economic instability, leading to a general state of instability in the region.

South Sudanese President Salva Kiir, said the crisis had the potential to undo all the progress already registered by the countries in the region.

“This (drought) is not about loss of livestock. It is about the loss of human lives. It is about the insecurities that come with it -- health security, national security and food security,” Kiir said.

President Kibaki convened the drought Summit to seek regional consensus on the way forward, saying the drought has already led to increased conflicts over water and other natural resources amongst communities living and across national borders.

In Kenya, conflict over grazing rights, watering points and fishing resources around Lake Turkana, between Kenyan pastoralists and Ethiopian tribe, the Merille, have led to the killings of dozens.

On Wednesday, protestors blocked President Kibaki’s convoy, in protest against the killings in North Eastern town of Isiolo.

The food battles have increased regional tensions and diplomatic protest notes have reportedly changed hands between Kenya and Ethiopia on one side, Kenya and Sudan on the other and Kenya and Uganda over the fish resources on Lake Victoria.

Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete, said the East African region was currently suffering from the effects of drought, caused by climate change but no meaningful aid was being offered to Africa, to specifically tackle the crisis.

“Let us utilize available areas with good rains and fertile soil to produce food surplus and supply areas with food deficits. In Tanzania, we have discovered six districts with constant rainfall,' he said, urging international donors to support food subsidy programmes to enable adequate food production.

“The food subsidies are good for us, it is bad for others. Our surplus food is finding its way into neighbouring countries,” he added.

In a message to the Summit, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon, said the drought and famine was a result of years of suffering as a result of the climate.

“The drought in the Horn of Africa region is the worst in modern history. What we have seen is a failure of resilience. The region’s population resilience has been weakened by subsequent drought and climate change effects,” Ban noted.

UN officials plan to hold a mini-Summit on the region’s drought on 24 September on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly meeting.

“It is not an option to blame climate change…there are good examples of how efforts have been made to avoid a humanitarian emergency, we have to emulate those examples,” Ban said in an apparent reference to Ethiopia’s food-safety net plan.

Ethiopia offers food for work to millions of people dependent of relief food and is often on the front lines to avert a regional disaster in its more vulnerable Somali state.

Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi said the country had secured 300,000 metric tonnes of food to boost the country’s strategic food reserves.

“We face serious technical and financial challenges,” Meles told the leaders who adopted a plan to seek additional funds for long-term investments in water and irrigation.

The plan emphasizes boosting forestry cover and irrigation to 10% by 2017.

Pana 10/09/2011