Waiting For Rain in Somalia

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4.6 • 59K Ratings

🗓️ 8 January 2023

⏱️ 22 minutes

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Summary

Climate change is upending life in some of the world's poorest countries. In Somalia, the last five rainy seasons have been practically rain-free. NPR reporter Jason Beaubien shares stories of the Somalians he spoke to when he visited the country, where people are managing a drought, hunger and conflict all at once.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey, it's Rachel, and we are starting out this year with a focus on climate change and migration,
0:05.7	specifically how extreme weather is upending life in some of the poorest countries in the world.
0:10.6	We're going to bring you stories about this through the month of January.
0:13.8	It can be tough stuff, right? We're talking about existential threats to our planet and very real
0:18.8	life or death decisions that people have to make in order to survive. But we're also going to
0:23.6	bring you stories about resilience, courage, and hope. Today on Up for Sunday, we're going to focus
0:29.2	on what is happening in Somalia. Hundreds of thousands of Somalis are on the move,
0:34.4	or living in camps, as the Horn of Africa is being scorched by its worst drought on record.
0:40.2	Life's not the dying, serial harvest of failing. There is a massive hunger crisis
0:46.3	ripping the country right now. Millions of people are facing crisis-level food insecurity
0:52.5	or worse. That's the voice of Petruch Wilton. He's a spokesperson for the UN World Food Program in Somalia.
0:59.0	The UN and other aid agencies are warning that in a matter of months, parts of Somalia could be
1:05.1	in a major famine. Somalis who make their living, as subsistence farmers, are fleeing to try to
1:10.7	save their families from starvation. But some don't survive that journey. My colleague Jason
1:15.8	Bobian was in Somalia in mid-December. When we come back, Jason tells me the stories he heard from
1:21.2	people across the country. Jason, thanks so much for coming to talk with us about your reporting.
1:38.3	No, it's my pleasure to be here. All right, so let's just start off with the drought that you have
1:44.1	been covering, right? Yeah, I mean, this is a really bad drought in the Horn of Africa right now.
1:49.4	Some agencies are saying it's the worst in 40 years. NASA, which monitors rainfall in these areas
1:54.6	by satellite, says it's the worst since they've been keeping records. And it's not just affecting
1:59.6	Somalia. It's also hitting Ethiopia, parts of Kenya. Somalia typically has two rainy seasons
2:05.8	per year. And the last five of them have failed completely or the rains have been well below normal.
	...

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