Ethiopia Hunger Crisis Appeal

Thanks to the generosity of our supporters, we have now achieved our goal for this appeal. We still urgently need funds to support our work with communities around the world facing extreme poverty, so your kind donation will be used where the need is greatest.

Drought in Ethiopia has led to desperate hunger for millions of families. We must act now to help save lives.

More than 20.1 million people across Ethiopia are without the food they need to survive. It is an unspeakable tragedy for any parent to watch their child waste away – or for any child to lose their mother or father to hunger. Tearfund is working through the local church to reach the most vulnerable families, showing them God’s love through emergency relief and long-term support.

Across Ethiopia, communities have been hit hard by the effects of climate change. Five failed rainy seasons have led to devastating drought. And because the land is so dry, the recent brief rains caused flash flooding that destroyed farmland and drought-weakened livestock.

Parents like Loko, pictured with her son, Gelgelo, are desperately worried about their children. She and her husband, Jarso, are herders, and she explains what the prolonged drought has meant for them: ‘I lost all my cows years ago and our daily life is full of hopelessness... I am worried about what to feed my child every day.’

To survive, Loko and Jarso now cut down trees to make firewood or charcoal, which they sell at the side of the road. They can only buy food on the days they sell something.

Working through the local church, Tearfund is identifying the most vulnerable families and supporting them by providing emergency cash grants. These enable people to buy what their family needs most urgently. We are also training communities affected by disasters to build resilience. Business skills training is equipping people like Loko and Jarso with new livelihoods, which allow them to build a more secure future. Alongside this, training is being provided to help people reduce their vulnerability to future crises including those triggered by climate change.

For parents like Loko, time is running out: ‘I want people to pray for us so our lives will be changed. Ask them to pray for my husband to get a job and help us, for my son to go to school, and for me to get work and change our life.’

Your gift of £102 today could provide a cash grant for a family to buy what they need most urgently, such as enough food to last them a month.