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East Africa food crisis

East Africa is facing a severe food crisis. Tearfund church partners are already distributing food and have ongoing projects helping communities to be more resilient to drought. We have launched an appeal to allow our partners to scale up their response to this crisis.

Malaka Mana and her grandchildren have been struggling to survive. Photo: Eleanor Bentall/Tearfund
Malaka Mana and her grandchildren have been struggling to survive. Photo: Eleanor Bentall/Tearfund

Failed rains and high food prices

Ethiopia, Somalia, northern Kenya and Uganda are the worst hit areas with around 17 million people in need of emergency food aid.

Drought, poor harvests and the continuing rises in food prices are the main factors driving a worsening humanitarian situation.

Earlier this year vital rains failed, devastating staple crops and leaving millions at risk in a region still recovering from previous droughts.

The UN estimates 4.6 million Ethiopians need food aid, in addition to the 8.3 million who are already getting help from the Ethiopian government. In Somalia, 2.6 million require food and in Kenya it’s 800,000. Another 700,000 people in Uganda are similarly affected.

If the current rainy season is also poor and the next harvest in a few months time also fails, the crisis will become catastrophic.

To make matters worse, in many areas there is a shortage of seeds to plant the next harvest, food on sale at markets is unaffordable and livestock lacks grazing land.

There is already an urgent need to help those faced with severe hunger now. It is also equally important to act fast to help people to secure their next harvest and to maintain healthy livestock to prevent the crisis from deteriorating further.

Responding to need and preventing disaster

Tearfund’s Phil James says, ‘There is an urgent need to get food to those facing severe hunger. At the same time, our partners have to distribute seeds and tools to help farmers make the most of any rainfall and secure their next harvest.’

In Ethiopia, Tearfund has already funded £100,000 to the Wolaitta Kale Heywet Church. The church is running food-for-work schemes. And we have just given almost £200,000 for seed distribution to the Ethiopian Kale Heywet Church. With more money, we could fund more partners and reach more people.

In Kenya, Tearfund has been working with Christian Community Services of Mount Kenya East (CCSMKE) for more than 11 years, helping them with drought recovery and drought preparedness work. This includes improving food production, water resources and livestock health. Appeal money would help them strengthen communities to reduce the impact of the disaster should the next rains fail.

In Somalia, there are fears that if rains due now fail, up to 3.5 million could need aid, half the population. In north east Uganda, 700,000 people are estimated to be in need of emergency relief. Appeal money would allow us to start working with partners in these countries.

Please pray that the rains due now will be sufficient for a good harvest. Pray that those most in need will receive all the help they require, and pray that agencies will find a way to distribute food in Somalia, despite the conflict there.
 
Find out more 
Secure food forever 

Hunger is a daily reality for millions in the developing world, and the rising cost of food is leaving many people in a critical situation.

 

Use our new harvest pack, Step up to the plate, and discover how one of our partners in Burkina Faso is working with communities to make sure they have enough to eat every day.

 

Download short films and order the pack here.

This page was last updated on 28 August 2008

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We are Christians passionate about the local church bringing justice and transforming lives - overcoming global poverty.
So our ten-year vision is to see 50 million people released from material and spiritual poverty through a worldwide network of 100,000 local churches.

Tearfund is registered charity number 265464     Email: enquiries@tearfund.org     Tel: 0845 355 8355 (ROI: 00 44 845 355 8355)