East Africa Hunger Crisis: Concern's Response

Dear Supporter 

Thanks in part to your generous contributions, we continue to provide life-saving services in Somalia, Kenya, Ethiopia, and South Sudan.

Early last year, when Somalia was cited as one of four countries on the brink of famine, it brought on a grim sense of déjà vu. Five years before, over 250,000 people — many of them children — had died of hunger and related diseases in the first famine of the 21st century. Luckily, that didn’t happen in 2017. Here are some reasons why:

Information:

Gathering and analyzing information is key. Early Warning Early Action (EWEA) — identifying and responding more quickly to the signs of coming crisis — is a central part of the Building Resilient Communities in Somalia (BRCiS) program, which Concern is implementing together with Norwegian Refugee Council, International Rescue Committee (IRC), Save the Children and CESVI. It systematically monitors conditions in its program areas and includes a mechanism to trigger a rapid localized response when signs of a potential crisis emerge.

Rapid Response:

Most of Somalia depends on two annual rainy seasons for agriculture and livestock production, and when there were signs - as early as June 2016 - that the April to June Gu rains would not perform well, we began responding with cash transfers of $30 per month to 803 of the poorest households in Gedo, in south west Somalia.

In November, as the subsequent Deyr rains appeared to be failing and the probability of disaster had therefore increased, Concern increased the amount to $50 per month and doubled the number of recipient households to 1606, now including the poorest 20% of households.

By January 2017, with the failure of the rains confirmed, Concern was able to increase the cash transfers to $60 per month. Despite the crisis, markets continued to function and food remained available for purchase, minimizing displacement to urban centers.

Increased Resilience:

Our approach to early warning meant that by the time the Food Security and Nutrition Analysis Unit — the leading source of food security and nutrition surveillance in Somalia — indicated the possibility of famine in Somalia on 16 January, 2017, Concern staff had already been responding to that possibility in half of our target communities for 7 months.

Ongoing discussions with the target communities and observations by Concern field staff suggest that as a result of this early action, the villages in which the resilience program operates are faring considerably better than might have been expected. While over 900,000 households have been displaced across the country since November 2016, none of our target villages have experienced significant numbers of people leaving due to the drought.

In fact, even though these communities were originally targeted as the most vulnerable in their respective areas, most have since become hosts to displaced people from nearby and previously “better off” villages. That’s amazing progress.

With millions of people still affected by food crisis in Somalia, it remains imperative to learn the lessons of the past two years and continue to respond to emerging needs early and effectively, in order to continue to keep famine at bay.

It is important, of course, to keep these successes in perspective. This program was a pilot through which Concern supported fewer than 30 villages, a number that pales in comparison to the 900,000 people forced to leave their homes and seek refuge in urban centers due to the food crisis. But this does show what can be achieved in mitigating the impacts of major slow onset disasters in Somalia.

Thanks in part to your contributions, we were able to respond to the crisis to the best of our ability, sharing information, responding rapidly, and focusing on increasing for resilience. For that, we deeply thank you.

Dear Supporter,

Concern Worldwide continues to respond to the hunger crisis in Somalia, South Sudan, Ethiopia, and Kenya. Thanks to your generous support, our 1,200 staff members on the ground throughout these four countries continue to provide emergency nutrition programming, safe drinking water and latrines, emergency cash transfers, and other life-saving interventions. Today, I would like to again take the time to spotlight Concern’s work in Somalia. 

Even though it is now 2018, Somalia continues to suffer from an extreme drought, which has in turn led to crop failures and a loss of livestock. This has severely affected production systems, and has caused a spike in food insecurity and malnutrition. We are combating the crisis by assisting internally displaced persons (IDPs) with unconditional cash transfers (UCT), which are an effective intervention during droughts when markets are still functioning, as they allow people to purchase life-saving food, water, and non-food items for themselves. This gives them choice and dignity while also supporting local livelihoods and markets by providing cash inputs into the local economy. 

We target new arrivals in the IDP camps, as they generally have very few resources when arriving from the countryside. Concern and partner staff work closely with community and IDP camp leaders to identify families most in need of cash support and subsequently select households based on a number of key vulnerabilities. I would like to highlight a story of a family who has benefited from emergency cash transfers. 

Jamilah* is a 41-year-old mother of seven children (2 girls and 5 boys) between the ages of 3 and 13. They are originally from Furuqlay in the Lower Shebelle region of Somalia, and they have been living in Nasib camp for Internally Displaced Persons in the Garasbaley District of Mogadishu for eight months. Jamilah recalls her life back in Furuqlay:

“We faced big problems. I will never forget and cannot describe enough here of what I have passed through with the children. My children are from different fathers and no one has been helping me with anything, as the fathers of my children are dead. So all in all, I’m the only one struggling with the children, no one is raising them with me. They are not in school.”

Before the fighting began, Jamilah’s daily routine in Furuqlay consisted of working on her farm and looking after her livestock in order to earn money to feed her children. On top of this she also performed all of the family’s chores.

“I normally faced some challenges like not having enough to eat three times a day. It is difficult to be with your children because as children they don’t understand that there is nothing to eat. The three year old, when she was younger, used to scream for my breast but the breast did not have enough milk to breast feed so the baby cried throughout the day and night. I became stressed mentally and physically due to the fighting and hunger that persisted.”

Concern Worldwide came to Nasib camp in August 2017 and started the process of beneficiary registration, selecting those in most need to receive unconditional cash transfers. Based on her difficult circumstances, Jamilah and her family were selected as beneficiaries and received unconditional cash transfers from Concern.

After receiving the unconditional cash transfers from Concern for the past four months, Jamilah says:

“With the cash I have started a small business selling small goods. I sell my goods outside of my shelter because I do not have enough money to build a shop. In the coming months I want to grow my business and build a shop. I thank Concern Worldwide for giving me this kind of opportunity.”

Thanks in part to your generous contributions, Jamilah now feels more hopeful and happy as a result of the income she has received from Concern.

“My highest desire is being able to feed my children every day. I’m thanking God and Concern Worldwide that I can now feed my family.”

*Name has been changed to protect Concern’s beneficiaries