Devastating effects of the global rise in food prices

When one-year old Nebele Kadir arrived at CARE’s stabilisation centre in Haramaya, East Hararghe 10 days ago, she was almost comatose.

Weighing 5.5lbs (2.5kg) – she was smaller than many newborn babies.

Along with the other twenty-eight inpatients she is severely malnourished, a victim of the food crisis engulfing millions of Ethiopians as food prices soar out of reach and food stocks dwindle.

As the effects of the rise in food costs are being felt around the world, it is the very poorest people who are hit the hardest.

On average, extremely poor people already spend more of their income on food than on anything else.

Unless poor peoples’ incomes rise as fast as food prices, they will either have to spend more of their meagre incomes on food, or they will have to change their diet by eating lower quality, cheaper foods, or eat less and suffer the effects of malnutrition.

Please act now!

The impact of the crisis is only starting to emerge, but the lasting long-term damage to people's ability to provide for themselves and their children will be devastating if help doesn't come soon.

In Ethiopia, CARE is already supplying supplementary food to more than 50,000 malnourished children and pregnant or breastfeeding women, and transferring food to a further 200,000 people to prevent their slide into the same state.

Please donate now to help us tackle this growing worldwide crisis and help save lives before it's too late >>