Workers unload emergency aid from an UNHCR-chartered plane shortly after landing in Mogadishu, on August 8, 2011.?The UN's food monitoring unit has described Somalia as facing the most severe humanitarian crisis in the world and Africa's worst food security crisis since the country's 1991-1992 famine. [AFP Photo]

Africa is often the subject of much debate and derision. Yet there is also a startling and deep-rooted ignorance about the continent.

The international community, especially developed countries, has failed to engage with Africa in meaningful ways, even when the worst drought in 60 years is causing a humanitarian disaster in parts of the continent.

Famine now affects 12 million people, particularly in Somalia, Ethiopia, Kenya and Djibouti. Hundreds of thousands have been displaced from their homes in search of food and water.

On Aug 4, the Chinese government announced that it will provide direct humanitarian assistance to drought-affected areas in the Horn of Africa. It said it will give aid totaling 90 million yuan ($14 million) to Ethiopia, Kenya and Djibouti and is holding consultations to provide humanitarian assistance to Somalia.

A famine is declared when malnutrition rates among children exceed 30 percent; more than two people per 10,000 die per day; and people are unable to access food and other basic necessities.

Western governments have not delivered on their past aid pledges and are failing to respond to the famine in east Africa, and UN officials have criticized the mentality of nations who are only moved to act when it is too late.

The United Nations World Food Program reports that it is about 40 percent - or $190 million - short of what is needed to combat hunger in Africa, and is appealing for help.

The United Kingdom's International Development Secretary Andrew Mitchell said too many countries have not woken up to the scale of east Africa's drought. He called on the international community to answer a UN appeal for $2.4 billion.

But while a response is urgently needed to the present crisis, at the same time, an initiative is needed to address the underlying causes of food insecurity and diseases in the continent.

Severe food insecurity in this part of the world is driven by cyclical drought, poor land management practices, limited availability of animal health services, inflation, conflicts over land and water, poor hygiene practices, and the lack of dietary diversity.

The G8 summit hosted by Italy in 2009 promised $20 billion over three years for Africa's food security. But only about one-quarter of that money has been disbursed.

People have no time to waste in lending helping hands. They need to step up their response or risk failing thousands of men, women and children who are desperately in need of help.