Across the region, most sub-Saharan African people are fishermen, herders and farmers who depend on agriculture.
Without a harvest, neither people nor animals can survive unless outside assistance is provided.
Additional factors, including climate change, regional conflict, and extreme poverty, have only exacerbated the issues, but many Americans remain unaware the crisis even exists.of Americans aged 19 to 34 conducted by the IRC and YouGov found that 69% did not know there was a drought in East Africa until they took the survey. Another 57% said politicians are not doing enough to address the issues of climate change and related food shortages.
The U.S. has so far donated over $2 billion in critical humanitarian assistance across the Horn of Africa to affected regions, more than the rest of the world combined, according to a spokesperson for the U.S. Agency for International Development .