African drought

This shows central Africa plant growth in June 2009 compared to other June's. Green means more plant growth and therefore more rain. Brown means less plant growth and in this case a drought. The vast area of brown south of the Sahara desert is called the Shael and is normally a fertile area that supports millions of people. In June 2009 the rainfall was one third of the rain in June 1997 and 60% less than the long term average. As a result Kenya entered a state of emergency as 10 million people did not have enough to eat. Cities throughout Kenya had to ration water and the Masinga hydroelectric dam was shut down after water levels in the reservoir fell too much to make electrical power. The next chance for rain is in September of October as that is the next rainy season.