East Africa Crisis - Q&A
What has happened?
After two consecutive failed rainy seasons, about 13.3 million people were affected by drought across the Horn and East Africa region in 2011. The United Nations described the situation in parts of the region as the worst drought conditions in the last 60 years. Our Church partners on the ground said that this was the worst drought in living memory.
Many areas of East Africa received normal or above normal rains in October and November 2011. The grip of drought has eased, with improved water supply and pasture for livestock, but still there are critical shortages of food and high food prices – and many people have lost their means of making a living.
What are the humanitarian needs?
Malnutrition
Substantial humanitarian intervention has reduced malnutrition rates across the region, but millions of people continue to require food aid. Although the famine has ended in Somalia, according to the UN, more than 2.3 million people in the country still need emergency support.
Pastoralists
Pastoralist communities, which rely on livestock for a living, have lost hundreds of thousands of animals across the region because of water and pasture shortages. For pastoralists, cattle are like a living bank: they are the main assets that people own. When their cattle die, pastoralists don’t have the means to feed their families.
Farmers
The failure of consecutive rains means that, in many areas, the harvest due in July and August 2011 failed to materialise, with severe consequences for the worst affected communities.
Displacement
Millions of people have been displaced by the drought and by political conflict in Somalia and drought-related conflict elsewhere in the region. More than 1.5 million people are internally displaced in Somalia, while there are more than 500,000 Somali refugees in Kenya and more than 180,000 in Ethiopia.
Food price rise
Over the past year the price of staple food stuffs has risen dramatically, and remains very high.
Who are our partners?
We are working with a wide range of local Catholic and other partners in the worst-affected areas of Kenya, Somalia, Ethiopia and South Sudan.
What are our partners doing?
Our partners are:
- providing emergency food aid to the most vulnerable, including young children, pregnant women, mothers with infants and elderly people.
- rehabilitating existing water-sources including wells.
- helping pastoralists keep their animals alive by providing animal feed and veterinary support; buying the weakest animals from pastoralists so that they are still able to make some money from selling their cattle; removing the carcasses of dead animals in order to prevent the spread of disease.
- supplying vital medical supplies to those in need.
- helping people become more resilient to future disasters, for example by building earth dams (artificial reservoirs) that hold water for longer and by supplying drought-resistant crops.
What work is CAFOD doing in Somalia?
We have been working through local partners in South Central Somalia to provide food and help people earn a living. We have provided families with monthly food vouchers so that they can purchase their own food (including maize, beans and sugar) from local traders. As well as providing families with urgent food assistance this project is also contributing to strengthening the local markets.
Somalia: millions still face food shortages>>
How much money has CAFOD pledged on relief programmes and where?
Our supporters have donated more than £4.7 million, which we are spending in the affected areas. We have also received more than £2 million through the DEC appeal.
How long have we been working in East Africa and what have we been doing?
We have been working in East Africa since our foundation in 1962, providing emergency relief and long-term development projects to some of the poorest people in the world.
Why are there droughts in East Africa so often?
There are patterns of natural variation in East African rainfall. The current drought is a result of what’s known as the La Nina phenomenon: lower than normal temperatures in the Pacific Ocean have had serious effects on weather conditions around the world. In many areas of East Africa, the rains that usually fall from March to June were far less heavy than usual.
In general, droughts are occurring in East Africa increasingly often. The region is still recovering from a major drought in 2009. Because droughts are happening with such frequency, people have very little time to rebuild their lives and livelihoods between each event. When there are rains, they are less predictable than in the past, making it harder for farmers to plan ahead.
Scientists are trying to work out if human-induced climate change could be one of the reasons for the frequency and intensity of recent droughts. East Africa has always – at least for many thousands of years – been impacted by drought. The jury is out on whether or not the current drought in East Africa can be linked to climate change.
Can CAFOD’s projects really make a difference?
Our projects are saving lives: severely malnourished children and their families are having to walk many miles to reach health and nutrition centres that we fund, and receive treatment that prevents them from dying.
In the longer term, our projects are helping people survive for longer when hit by natural disasters. For example, in Kargi in Marsabit in northern Kenya, we helped build earth dams that mean water is captured and stored, available for longer. This means that pastoralists are able to access water for several months longer than they would have done in the past.
By donating to our appeal, supporters will save lives but also help people cope better with droughts in the future.
How can you donate to CAFOD’s work in East Africa?
Phone: 0500 85 88 85
Post: CAFOD, 55 Westminster Bridge Road, London, SE1 7JB
Please help save women, men and children caught up in disasters and emergencies around the world. |
![The Hassa Hissa Camp for internally displaced persons, outside Zalingei in Sudan's violence-torn Darfur region [Paul Jeffrey]](/var/storage/images/images/worship/rainbow-in-darfur-refugee-camp/887814-1-eng-GB/rainbow-in-darfur-refugee-camp_1column00_08space_landscape.jpg)
Access our unique prayer resources for use in your communities, groups, schools, or for private prayer |
What kind of future do you want to see? Take action for a greener, fairer world - call on your MP to support the Rio Connection. |
