East Africa Food Crisis

The Hunger Crisis in the Horn of Africa continues. The general food security situation has stabilized and is improving in most areas of Ethiopia due to the arrival in the markets of crops from the meher (October-February) harvest, the impact of the overall good deyr/hagaya (October-December) rains on water availability and livestock conditions, and the continuing distribution of relief food.

However, worsening water shortages continue to be reported in parts of Ethiopia, with an estimated 690,000 people in need of emergency water assistance. Over the past week, water trucking requirements increased by 37 trucks.

Risk of a poor April-June rainy season remains in Somalia, and people in southern regions continue to be vulnerable to both price and rainfall shocks following the devastating effects of the recent food crisis. As a result, large numbers of people are likely to remain in crisis until the August 2012 harvest, with numbers likely to increase starting in May in Juba, Shabelle and Bay regions, when the benefit of the current harvest will be reduced.

 Save the Children has been supporting treatment for children with severe acute malnutrition at the OTP (Outpatient Therapeutic Program), school feeding programs, training of cook volunteers, rehabilitation of health posts, screening of children for malnutrition and training on malnutrition by the nutrition team.

In the refugee camps, activities in child protection include reunification of children with their relatives, raising of awareness through tea-talk meetings and house to house visits were done to create awareness to parents about the rights of children in general and the reporting mechanism on child abuses within the camp. Family Tracing and Reunification (FTR) teams also traveled to refugee camps to discuss how to collaborate with other FTR teams and help return more lost children to their relatives.

Educational activities included general supervision to ensure good attendance, water supply, hygiene and sanitation and child protection was done in the Dolo Ado camps, rehabilitation of water, shade and latrines, training of cooks on child protection and proper food handling management. 

To help families feed their children, we distributed fresh food vouchers as well as supported livestock vaccination and deworming.

In Kenya, Somalia and Ethiopia, Save the Children’s child protection program reached more than 63,000 children in refugee camps and host communities. In the Kenya’s Dadaab refugee camp, the world’s largest refugee camp with about 463,000 people, we’ve helped counsel children who have lived through traumatic experiences. Many children witnessed disturbing events. In Dadaab, we also operate child friendly spaces, places where kids can get away from the stresses of living in a refugee camp and play and learn in a safe environment.

We supplied life-saving water by trucking it to communities in need. We’ve also set up water systems and distributed purification tablets. Overall, we’ve helped supply 100,000 people and their livestock with water.

In Ethiopia, our livelihoods program reached more than 1.1 million people with food and cash vouchers as well as the wide distribution of agricultural items such as seeds, fuel and animal fodder.

Save the Children has reached about 344,000 people throughout Somalia, the majority of them children. Malnourished children—and those who are severely malnourished—are brought to centers where they receive the right kinds of food. This may be Plumpy’nut, a high-nutrient peanut paste, or nutritious porridge.

Links:

• Save the Children's Horn of Africa Page