Photo Essay: Starvation Stalks the Horn of Africa

Six years after drought and civil war conspired to kill more than a quarter-million Somalis, this troubled nation in the Horn of Africa is once again on the brink of famine. The rains have failed for two consecutive seasons, wiping out farmers and herders alike. Now, more than 6 million people — roughly half the population of Somalia — are in need of emergency humanitarian aid. In one 48-hour period last month, 110 people starved to death or died of drought-induced diarrhea, prompting the government to declare a state of emergency. Puntland, a semi-autonomous region in northeastern Somalia, where as much as half the population depends on livestock for survival, has been one of the areas hardest hit. Herds of camels and goats have been decimated, and pastoralists have been forced to travel hundreds of miles in search of water.