2006 Horn of Africa food crisis 2006 Horn of Africa food crisis In 2006, an acute shortage of food affected the countries in the Horn of Africa (Somalia, Djibouti and Ethiopia), as well as northeastern Kenya. The United Nations's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) estimated on January 6, 2006, that more than 11 million people in these countries may be affected by an impending widespread famine, largely attributed to a severe drought, and exacerbated by military conflicts in the region. Drought is a predictable event in the Horn of Africa, and when combined with other factors it causes conflict and terrible human misery. Previous droughts in
Horn of Africa as የአፍሪካ ቀንድ yäafrika qänd in Amharic, القرن الأفريقي‎ al-qarn al-'afrīqī in Arabic, Gaaffaa Afriikaa in Oromo and ቀርኒ ኣፍሪቃ in Tigrinya. The Horn of Africa is sometimes shortened to "HOA". The Horn of Africa is quite commonly designated simply the "Horn", while inhabitants are sometimes colloquially referred to as "Horn Africans". Sometimes the term "Greater Horn of Africa" is used, either to be inclusive of neighbouring northeast African countries, or to distinguish the broader geopolitical definition of the Horn of Africa from narrower peninsular definitions. Ancient Greeks and Romans referred to the Somali peninsula as Regio Aromatica or Regio