Last month, a famine was officially declared in parts of Somalia. But drought, hunger, and lack of food have spread well beyond those areas. It's been described as the worst famine in a generation--since Ethiopia in the early 1980s. And while the rains aren't falling in the Horn of Africa, neither is the money from the international community. And that has some coming up with new solutions to the problems of getting aid to those who need it.

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Today's guest host was Piya Chattopadhyay.

Part One of The Current

Satire

It's Wednesday, August 24th.

The Russian head of the World Chess Federation says he received a phone call from Moammar Gadhafi. The Libyan leader explained he's certain he'll hang on to power.

Currently, The Russian official says Bobby Fisher is now the second craziest person he has ever spoken to.

This is The Current.

Horn of Africa Famine - Challiss McDonough

The clouds continue to forget the dusty, dry farms in the Horn of Africa. This year, Kenya and Ethiopia received about a third of the rain they normally rely on. In parts of Somalia, the rains have failed for two years and there isn't any in the forecast for the rest of the month.

If the weather has forgotten the Horn, so too has the world. The worst famine in a generation is growing worse, but few news stories trickle out of the drought zone. And it's not as if there aren't stories to tell.

The United Nations says nearly 400 thousand children may die from malnutrition in Somalia alone. It has asked for about two and a half billion dollars in relief. So far it has received about half that. And in the mean time, the cost of what little food is out there is on the rise.

Deqo Mohamed is a Somali doctor whose family runs a makeshift refugee camp at her farm outside of Mogadishu. The farm has become home to 90,000 displaced and hungry people who rely on her family for food.

Challiss McDonough is the Senior Spokesperson for the UN's World Food Program in East, Central and Southern Africa. She was in Nairobi, Kenya.

Horn of Africa Famine - Chris Barrett

The political chaos, armed rebels and difficult geography all make it hard to deliver aid in Somalia. But according to Chris Barrett, there's a more fundamental problem -- donor countries aren't delivering. Chris Barrett specializes in Agricultural and Development Economics at Cornell University. He's worked on food emergencies in places such as East Africa. Chris Barrett was in Ithaca, New York.

Related Links:

• As starving Somalis flood into Ethiopia, UN sends in emergency aid team -
  UN News Centre
• Spike in food prices worsens East African famine By Geoffrey York - The Globe and Mail
• Scale of reported Somalia food aid theft implausible, insists UN By Mark Tran - The Guardian
• ILRI, Equity Bank and UAP Insurance launch first-ever project to insure cows, camels and goats in Kenya's arid north - ILRI NEWS

Other segment from today's show:

• Etched in Stone (Documentary)