Africa Drought and Famine Fund

It's been 20 months since we launched this relief fund in response to acute famine and drought conditions across East Africa, and significant challenges to food security persist throughout the region, including lower than expected rainfall and internal conflicts. USAID's Famine Early Warning Systems Network projects that substantial portions of Ethiopia, Somalia, South Sudan, and Sudan will experience either "crisis" or "emergency" levels of food insecurity over the next four months, while the majority of Kenya's territory will continue to be classified as "stressed."

Thanks to 3,005 donors like you who've raised more than $186,000 to support our Africa Drought and Famine Relief Fund, our vetted nonprofit partners remain committed to helping communities across the region combat acute food insecurity and build the resilience of local food systems. Here are three updates from projects that your donation has supported:

• Due to inconsistent rainfall in Kenya’s arid north, Child Rescue Kenya has seen an influx of families and homeless children arriving in the rift valley city of Kitale. They’re continuing their two-pronged approach to assisting those migrating because of drought: helping families become more self-sufficient through education about modern, effective farming practices, and providing support for children living on the streets through their Street Smart drop-in center, street-level outreach by social workers, and providing safe temporary housing at their Birunda Rescue Centre.
• Seed Programs International has been strengthening their partnerships with local NGOs in Ethiopia and Kenya. Working with Seed Savers Network Kenya, they’ve helped a school in Gilgil serving children with disabilities, many of whom require special, closely-monitored diets, start their own vegetable garden, adding fresh tomatoes, carrots, hot peppers, kale, and cabbage to the menu and allowing them to sell the excess and purchase fresh fruit. In coordination with their lead partner in Ethiopia, GrowEastAfrica, they’ve provided grain rations and direct financial assistance to purchase medicine and housing for families who’ve been internally displaced by conflict.
• In South Sudan’s northern Bahr el Ghazal region, Concern Worldwide US has supported 49 health facilities treating moderate acute malnutrition in children under five and nursing mothers, and treated young children with severe malnutrition as inpatients at Concern Stabilization Centers.

In the months to come we’ll continue to keep you updated on the ongoing work of our partners in East Africa. And thank you again, not just for donating to our Africa Drought and Famine Relief Fund, but for how you gave—you made the wise decision to donate money, rather than physical goods to support community-led relief work. Giving money after a disaster allows for quicker and more efficient deployment of resources and supports, rather than disrupts, local economies.

Warmly,
Will Frechette + the GlobalGiving Team