Niebel in Africa

Speaking in the Kenyan capital Nairobi on Sunday, German Development Minister Dirk Niebel said he wants to boost efforts to promote rural development in Africa.

Drought, conflict and a lack of food aid have left 3.6 million people at risk of starvation in southern Somalia. The drought has affected about 12 million people across the Horn of Africa.

The federal government in Germany has provided more than 30 million euros to fight the famine.

But aid groups and opposition parties have criticized Germany's response to the crisis in East Africa, saying it's been too little too late.

"Germany must step up its emergency aid for East Africa and take note of the particularly dramatic situation of the region's nomads," the Society for Threatened Peoples in Göttingen said on Sunday.

Rural growth on the agenda

Niebel is to visit the Dadaab refugee camp in Kenya where more than 400,000 refugees from neighboring Somalia have sought aid and shelter.

In addition to weighing emergency aid, Niebel is also visiting the Horn of Africa to guage governments' abilities to deal with recurring drought and famine. Cooperations with Kenya and Ethiopia on rural development are another focus of the development minister's agenda in Africa.

Much of the territory struck by famine in Somalia is under the control of the Islamist Al-Shabab militia, who have been blamed for exacerbating the humanitarian crisis by restricting aid to their regions.

Security remains a problem

Last weekend, the Al-Qaeda-inspired rebels made a surprise withdrawal from Mogadishu. Aid groups are now assessing how to expand relief distribution as the African Union forces protecting the Somali government try to secure the city.

On Saturday, Somali Prime Minister Abdiweli Mohamed Ali requested aid in the form of an armed presence to protect food aid coming into the country. Islamist rebels withdrew from the capital of Mogadishu last week but guerilla attacks remain a very real threat.

"We have also raised the issue of creating a special humanitarian force, which has dual purposes," Ali told a press conference on Saturday. "First to secure and protect the food aid convoy, and to protect the camps and stabilize the city and fight banditry and looting."

Author: Stuart Tiffen (AFP, Reuters, dpa)
Editor: Sonia Phalnikar