TIMELINE - Horn of Africa hunger crisis

NAIROBI (AlertNet) - Some 13 million people in Horn of Africa went hungry last year after severe drought hit the region.

Following is a timeline on the crisis taken from a report by Oxfam and Save the Children.

2010

AUGUST

* First official confirmation of La Nina effect in the Horn which causes drier than normal conditions

* Acute malnutrition rate of 16 percent in southern Somalia, above the 15 percent emergency threshold which should trigger humanitarian response

OCTOBER - DECEMBER

* ‘Short rains' fail

NOVEMBER

*United Nations Consolidated Appeal for Somalia has relatively low figures for those in need of assistance in 2011 and fails to sufficiently reflect the La Nina predictions

DECEMBER

* Inter-agency Food Security and Nutrition Working Group for East Africa says pre-emptive action needed to protect livelihoods and avoid later costly emergency interventions

2011

JANUARY

* People on the ground try to set alarm bells ringing. They aren't always able to get people to respond further up the line

* Acute malnutrition rate of 25 percent in southern Somalia

MARCH

* A Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWSNET) food security alert says average rains will likely lead to a critical situation and predict “localised famine conditions (in southern Somalia) including significantly increased child mortality… if worst case scenario assumptions are realised”.

MARCH-MAY

* Second rainy season fails, resulting in crop failure and animal deaths. Crisis reaches "a tipping point”

JULY

* Declaration of famine in Somalia. Activity scales up

AUGUST

* Acute malnutrition rate of 36 percent in southern Somalia

See also: World could have prevented Horn of Africa famine – aid groups