A woman surveys dry land in Kenya. © CAREDespite humanitarian mobilisation and emergency relief, the situation in the Horn of Africa remains dire. Drought, conflict and poverty have left more than ten million people in Kenya, Ethiopia, Somalia and Djibouti in urgent need of humanitarian assistance. The world's most severe food crisis is getting worse, increasing the daily risks for millions of already vulnerable people.
Increasing drought aggravated an already precarious situation for many chronically food insecure households, with some pastoral zones experiencing the driest period in 60 years. The effects of climate change, combined with high local cereal prices, increasing livestock mortality and conflict furthermore exacerbated the impacts of the drought.
The food crisis caused massive displacement in Somalia. A quarter of Somalia's 7.5 million population is now either internally displaced or living outside the country as refugees. 80 percent of refugees arriving in neighbouring Kenya are women and children, who travel without male company, money, food or clothing and who are especially vulnerable to dangers, such as rape, abduction and even death.
As is often the case, women were disproportionally affected by the current drought. In many communities, women are the last ones to eat when food is limited, after children and men. Women also usually shoulder the largest burden in collecting drinking water and now spend hours doing so.
Sexual violence has quadrupled
In the northern Kenya refugee camps of Dadaab, the largest in the world, the situation is reaching breaking point. More than 400,000 refugees have sought shelter and approximately 1,800 refugees arrive per day, putting severe pressure on already limited resources in overcrowded camps. Sexual violence against women increased dramatically, with 358 incidents from January until June 2011, a fourfold increase from the same period in 2010. The refugees also faced increased tensions from local populations who are also in need of assistance. CARE distributed food from the World Food Programme (WFP) to the refugees in Dadaab.
CARE launched an emergency appeal for £16 million to provide food, water, and emergency relief in the eastern Horn of Africa. We scaled up our response to reach almost 2 million people affected by the emergency, through meeting their most urgent needs.
CARE's emergency response in the Horn of Africa included assistance for commercial and slaughter de-stocking of animals; therapeutic and supplementary feeding; cash transfers to households affected with children suffering from severe malnutrition; provision of water through water tankering; distribution of water treatment supplies; training on safe hygiene and supporting livelihoods through cash-for-work programs. In the refugee camps of Dadaab, CARE is the primary distributor of food, water and primary education for the more than 440,000 refugees.
CARE's response to the food insecurity in the Horn of Africa:
Ethiopia
Beneficiaries reached to date: 700,000
CARE Ethiopia responded to the drought and food insecurity emergency in the regions of Afar and Oromia (Borena, East and West Hararghe zones), which were the most affected areas in the country. CARE focused on food assistance, nutrition, water and sanitation interventions such as water point rehabilitation, distribution of water treatment chemicals and hygiene promotion. Since livestock are a crucial livelihoods asset for pastoralist communities, CARE Ethiopia implemented livestock interventions comprising of slaughter destocking, animal feed and support to zonal animal health authorities.
Its emergency response has already impacted the lives of more than 700,000 people through both short-term emergency relief and long-term livelihood strategies.
Somalia (Puntland and Somaliland)
Beneficiaries reached to date: 150,000
CARE has been responding to the current drought conditions and high cereal prices in the northern regions of Puntland and Somaliland by rehabilitating water harvesting structures such as water pans, shallow wells; supporting livelihoods by implementing cash-for-work programs and cash relief to most vulnerable households in the affected areas. To date, CARE has assisted over 150,000 people with water and sanitation, support livelihoods, and support to internally displaced populations. CARE is also preparing for the coming dry season.
Despite rebel Somali fighters reopening access to humanitarian aid, agencies still have limited access and capacity to deliver lifesaving assistance in the worst-affected areas of Somalia - i.e. the south-central region where most of the Somalis in need are concentrated - because of insecurity and stringent donor conditions. As part of the larger humanitarian community in Somalia, CARE has been urging major donors as well as various local authorities to facilitate access to south-central Somalia to enable us to provide assistance where it's needed most.
In April , the regional famine early warning system, FEWSNET, pwas predicting rainfall to begin late, to be poorly distributed over space and time and to total only about 60-80% of average. This is significant lower than previous predictions and could result in another poor harvest in the horn of Africa. CARE is monitioring the situation to ensure that preventative measures will be taken in the even of another food crisis.
Kenya
Beneficiaries reached to date: 940,000
In addition to our work serving the 460,000 residents in the Dadaab camps, CARE scaled up its response to assist an additional 200,000 people in the north-eastern parts of the country. In this hard-hit region, CARE Kenya has been addressing drought conditions with emphasis on addressing long-term vulnerabilities and strengthening community resilience. The Country Office emphasises disaster risk management measures owned by the local communities. CARE Kenya supports district veterinary department teams to vaccinate animals against the expected increase in diseases and need for treatment; this is in case of disease outbreaks which may occur as a result of animals congregating at the remaining water sources.
CARE Kenya also responded through maintenance, protection and development of water resources; encouraging improved hygiene practices and infrastructure; livelihood protection and support through diversifying sources of income; cash transfer and other cash/market interventions; disaster risk reduction (DRR), mainly looking at cross border peace committees (in Kenya and Ethiopia) in Mandera East through water committees and water supervisors; and grazing management by council of elders.
CARE has partnered with a financial institution and both public and private abattoirs to increase livestock sales from the pastoral community, reducing the number of animals relying on limited pasture and enhancing available cash for households.
Help with disaster relief: Donate to our Rapid Response Fund.
European Commission
Read more about how the European Commission is supporting CARE to meet the needs of those caught up in the world’s most severe food crisis:
Horn of Africa Drought Factsheet (PDF 500KB)
Focus on Famine - Working with CARE at Dadaab in Kenya (PDF 200KB)
