For weeks, images of starving children and adults seeking aid from hunger and drought have captivated the world.

But these image show only a glimpse of the tragedy affecting those in the Horn of Africa region. PBS NewsHour reports that as many as 12 million people in five countries are at risk, but the hardest-hit and most susceptible, are in southern Somalia. Civil conflict combined with drought has produced famine, and tens of thousands of Somalis have died. More than half-a-million children are on the brink of starvation.

Yet, reports show that Western aid isn't reaching areas that are most afflicted. The reason? Much of southern Somalia is controlled by al-Shabab, an Islamic insurgent group .Shabab has threatened and killed international aid workers there. Also, U.S. antiterrorism restrictions make it a crime for any American charity to provide support directly or indirectly to al-Shabab.

However, at the urging of major aid groups, the U.S. government eased its policy allowing more aid to reach those in Somalia.

"I met a young woman named Habiba who had walked for 33 days with her two children and what little belongings she had, showed up at the Dadaab refugee camp, like tens of thousands of her country mates, needing food, needing medicine, her children needing health interventions just to survive." - Rajiv Shah, USAID Administrator.

"Well, it's tragic. And it's worse than I think most people believe." - Rajiv Shah, USAID Administrator.

1. What is an aid group? Give some examples of aid groups.

2. What is famine?

3. What factors can contribute to famine?

1. Why are countries like Somalia and other countries in the Horn of Africa region in need of aid?

2. Why isn't Western aid reaching areas where the famine is at its worst?

3. According to the video, what action did the U.S. government take to ease the suffering in Somalia?

4. If the technological advances of the past few centuries have made food much easier to produce and distribute, why are there still famines?