A mother and child © CARE / Kate HoltAs the drought and food crisis in the Horn of Africa continues, CARE has scaled up our emergency response in Kenya, Ethiopia and Somalia to assist more than two million people across the affected region. More than 12 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance, such as water, food, medical assistance, shelter and help regaining lost livelihoods.
Somali refugees are still crossing into neighboring countries and up to 1,300 arrive daily in the refugee camps of Dadaab in eastern Kenya. After having walked for days, often without food or water, refugees arrive exhausted and malnourished at the reception centers of Dadaab. More than 415,000 refugees now live in Dadaab, in camps that were originally built to host 90,000 people. CARE provides primary education and water, distributes food and offers psychological support and counseling, particularly to women and girls. More than 1,600 refugee aid workers assist CARE in implementing programs, many of them having lived in the camps for most of their lives.
Livestock means life
Kenyans themselves are also severely affected by the current crisis. More than 3 million people in northern Kenya do not have enough food or water for their own consumption as well as for their livestock. Many of the communities are pastoralists and losing their livestock often means losing all assets. In Ethiopia it is a similar picture: in the largely pastoralist region of Borena more than one-third of all livestock have already died. It is an indicator of the severity of the drought that goats and camels, animals that are usually drought resistant, are dying as well.
CARE, in close collaboration with the Ethiopian government, has opened 21 destocking sites to recover some value from emaciated and unproductive animals that would otherwise die, and to prevent conflict that might arise from competition around scarce pasture grounds. CARE pays cattle owners 800 Ethiopian Birr (47 U.S. dollars) per head of cattle, and provides hay and supplementary animal feed to save the lives of remaining cattle. Under supervision from official food inspectors, the meat from the slaughtered animals then goes to vulnerable families suffering from the food crisis.
Prevention: the best response
Much-needed humanitarian relief is just one part of the solution. Over the long term CARE places a high priority on helping communities reduce their risk to inevitable future droughts and adapt to a changing climate. The success of this strategy can be seen in the much lower expected death toll in the current crisis than during previous droughts in the region – thanks in part to the work of local governments and international humanitarian organizations in bolstering the resilience of local communities against recurrent shocks.
In Ethiopia, for example, the World Food Programme reports that only a third as many people are suffering from the current emergency as might have been the case without ongoing resilience and social protection programming. While the 1984-85 famine killed nearly 1 million people in Ethiopia, the current crisis threatens up to 200,000 lives in Somalia, by some estimates – a figure which could be even lower were it not for security issues and poor humanitarian access in the current climate.
Please donate to our emergency response fund
Longer term work
In addition to our immediate response in the face of this current food crisis CARE International emphasises the need to tackle the long-term, underlying causes of poverty. We have been present in the region for over 25 years and are helping families to break the cycle of hunger and to adapt to the changing climate and recurring droughts.
Our ongoing work in the region includes:
- Maintenance, protection and development of water points and wells.
- Working with women in Mandera, Kenya to revive traditional food preservation techniques.
- Vaccination of animals to prevent diseases breaking out as they congregate at remaining water points.
- Helping families have more consistent sources of income by supporting them in diversifying their work.
Read more stories from the East Africa Food Crisis:
Staff blog: Sabine Wilke, Emergency Media Officer in Dadaab - 12 August
Video: East Africa Crisis - CARE's response - 12 August
Slideshow: Dadaab refugee camp - 12 August
Somalia to Dadaab: a journey filled with danger - 10 August
Somalia: famine declared in three additional regions of South-Central - 5 August
Ethiopia: in a drought prevention pays - 26 July 2011
Staff Blog: Confusion and waiting in Dadaab, Kenya - 18 July 2011
Staff Blog: "The need for food assistance is increasing at alarming rate" - 16 July 2011
Urgency grows in the Horn of Africa - 15 July 2011
Slideshow: More pictures from the East Africa Food Crisis - 14 July 2011
Staff Blog: Horn of Africa Food Crisis - Dadaab refugee camp - 8 July 2011
Slideshow: East Africa Food Crisis - 8 July 2011
Horn of Africa: The most severe food crisis in the world - 1 July 2011
Reviving traditions to survice drought in Kenya - 3 June 2011
Ethiopia food shortage: The worst is yet to come - 25 May 2011
Press releases from the East Africa food Crisis:
Saving cattle can save lives in drought-stricken Africa - 29 July 2011
DEC East Africa Crisis Appeal reaches £30 million - 25 July 2011
DEC East Africa Crisis Appeal reaches £27 million - 22 July 2011
DEC East Africa Crisis Appeal reaches £20 million - 18 July 2011
DEC East Africa Crisis Appeal reaches £18 million - 18 July 2011
Violence against women doubles in giant East Africa refugee camp - 17 July 2011
DEC East Africa Crisis Appeal reaches £15 million - 14 July 2011
DEC East Africa Crisis Appeal reaches £13 million - 13 July 2011
DEC agencies prepare to scale up work in Somalia - 13 July 2011
Reported cases of sexual violence have quadrupled among refugees - 12 July 2011
Horn of Africa food crisis: CARE launches £16 million appeal - 11 July 2011
UK donations for East Africa Crisis Appeal reach £8 million - 10 July 2011
DEC aims to help prevent East Africa Crisis becoming a catastrophe - 10 July 2011
DEC East Africa Crisis Appeal reaches £6 million - 9 July 2011
Aid delivered in East Africa as DEC Appeals broadcast in UK - 8 July 2011
Africa’s newest country in grip of food crisis - 8 July 2011
DEC announces East Africa Crisis Appeal - 7 July 2011
Drought in Kenya: “Situation of refugees is grave” - 4 July 2011
Horn of Africa: CARE calls for more attention to severe food insecurity - 19 May 2011
