By Asha Elmi - Reporter
DJIBOUTI, September 16, 2026 Nearly 49 million people across the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) region face acute food insecurity, the bloc said on Tuesday, urging governments to strengthen preparations for El Niño.
More than 19 million people are also internally displaced across the region, according to a communiqué issued after IGAD foreign ministers met in Djibouti.
IGAD said conflict, displacement and increasingly severe climate-related shocks were damaging livelihoods and worsening humanitarian conditions across East Africa.
The bloc urged member states to strengthen early-warning systems, emergency-response capacity and disaster-preparedness plans to reduce possible losses linked to El Niño.
El Niño is a warming of the tropical Pacific Ocean that disrupts weather patterns worldwide. It can bring unusually heavy rainfall to parts of East Africa, increasing the risk of flooding, crop losses and damage to infrastructure.
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IGAD’s seven member states — Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan and Uganda — have faced repeated droughts and floods, armed conflicts and rising food prices in recent years.
War in Sudan has displaced millions and disrupted farming and humanitarian access, while Somalia and South Sudan continue to face the combined effects of conflict, displacement and climate shocks.
Pastoral and farming communities are particularly vulnerable to unpredictable rainfall, failed harvests, water shortages and the loss of grazing land and livestock.
IGAD called for stronger regional cooperation and unhindered humanitarian access to communities affected by conflict and natural disasters.
The communiqué did not provide a country-by-country breakdown of the 49 million people facing acute food insecurity.