Crisis in Angola

Angola: Key facts

• Population: 37.8 Million
• Area: 1,246,700 KM2
• Literacy rate: 72.4%
• Life expectancy: 62 years

Angola is a huge country, with 1,600 kilometres of coastline and a central plateau. The capital Luanda, with a population of nine million, looks west across the South Atlantic towards Brazil, where Portuguese is spoken, just like in Angola.

Three times the size of Germany, Angola is rich in commodities and natural resources such as oil and diamonds. This makes it one of the ten strongest economies in Africa.

Nevertheless, a large proportion of the population lives in abject poverty and does not have enough to eat. There is also a lack of clean drinking water.

Dry wells

According to data from the United Nations World Food Program (WFP), the worst drought in southern Africa for over 40 years has caused an insecure food situation for around 2.2 million people in Angola (as of November 2024).

Most of the water points in the regions most affected by drought are not in operation. For women and girls, who are usually the ones fetching water, this means long and dangerous journeys.

Poor harvests

Around 85 percent of the population work in agriculture. However, most of them only own small plots of land, the yield from which is rarely enough to survive on. Due to the drought, there have recently been severe losses in beans, manioc and corn.

Many households have already been affected by droughts several times. Their supplies have been used up. They have hardly any seeds and seedlings for the next planting season. If less is sown, further poor harvests will follow.

While it is tropical in the north of the country, heat and drought prevail in the south. The mighty baobab trees grow in the savannahs. Wild animals such as hippos, rhinos, elephants, antelopes, giraffes, zebras and baboons roam through the barren landscape. Their habitat is shrinking every year due to slash-andburn agriculture and deforestation.

The climate crisis is becoming increasingly difficult for people. Angola has great potential in agriculture with its abundant agricultural land. However, the country must strengthen its resilience to climate change. Extreme climatic events and rising temperatures are expected to exacerbate water shortages and prolong the dry seasons.

Six school years only

In Angola, schooling is compulsory for only six years. Girls are often not even sent to school. In total, two million children do not go to school. Angola's children are at risk of early marriage, sexual violence, child labour and other forms of abuse and neglect.

CARE in Angola

CARE does not currently deliver any programmes in Angola, which has topped the list of least reported crises in the CARE Crisis Report for the past three years. We believe the worsening crisis in the country deserves greater attention and we hope the CARE Crisis Report encourages increased reporting and action to respond to people's growing needs.

Under-reported crises

The CARE Crisis Report is published annually and highlights the ten crises that receive the least media attention. In 2024 Angola was the least reported crisis in the world.