Your heartbreaking photograph of children at a camp for families fleeing drought in Somalia (Eyewitness, 21 March) and reports of the escalating famine across Africa force one to consider what might be a satisfactory response from an already beleaguered world. I am not a scientist, so I put these questions to a scientist friend of mine: could desalination plants be designed to turn sea water into drinking water? Could such research be made a priority? Could the resulting fresh water be piped into the African interior and used to irrigate vast areas of desert land? Would such a project be impractically expensive? He answered yes to these presumably naive questions, with the proviso that they would cost a great deal of money. What’s the problem, I asked, given the wealth enjoyed by governments and people across the world? Lack of will, he replied.

Can we not find the will? Isn’t such a project exactly what the world needs to help it out of its present slough of bitterness and aggression? And if its achievement would be too late to aid Africa now in its immediate plight, would it not provide a long-term solution to many of the issues that dog Somalia and indeed the world? Incidentally, what is the United Nations for?

David Curtis

Solihull, West Midlands

• Farakh Masud (Letters, 14 March) is right to feel angry that consumers can buy green beans from Kenya while millions face severe food shortages because of drought. The global export of fresh produce is beneficial to many Kenyans, but the drought has hit hardest in the arid regions in the north and north-east, which are home to some of Kenya’s poorest and most vulnerable. The Kenyan government has taken steps to ensure they are better equipped for a changing climate and more frequent droughts, but given the scale of this crisis, more needs to be done. In the meantime, Farakh’s donation along with the many others we have received will make a difference to help the millions of people going hungry in Kenya and across east Africa.

Robin Willoughby

Head of food and climate policy and campaigns, Oxfam GB

• Join the debate – email guardian.letters@theguardian.com

• Read more Guardian letters – click here to visit gu.com/letters