Hunger Crisis in East Africa

4.4 MILLION PEOPLE* were reached with food aid and humanitarian assistance in Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan, and Uganda in 2017 by World Vision.

 SITUATION UPDATE

One year ago, World Vision declared a global response to the hunger crisis in East Africa that left more than 27 million people in need of life-saving assistance.

 Since then, thanks to your support, 4.4 million people across East Africa received emergency aid, including food, water, healthcare, and livelihoods assistance. This support reached children and families with urgently needed relief across Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan, and Uganda.

 Today, the hunger crisis has improved in some areas, particularly in Kenya, where rainfall has restored vegetation. However, the global humanitarian community braces for what is expected to be another difficult year across the region. Millions of people are at risk of famine or catastrophic levels of food shortages in South Sudan, Somalia, and Ethiopia due to four consecutive seasons of low rainfall, in addition to ongoing conflict and political instability in South Sudan. Longer-term assistance is needed in these areas to avoid spikes in malnutrition and death.

World Vision celebrates the growing resilience of communities across East Africa. Through the commitment of donors like you, we will continue to support their efforts until crops and livestock can once again survive, and families across the region begin to thrive. Thank you for your support.

RESPONSE ACCOMPLISHMENTS

• 3.1+ million people reached with food and livelihood assistance
• 1.2+ million people reached with water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) services
• 2 million people reached with health and nutrition services
• 166,500 children reached through programs that educate and protect children
• 210,000 people reached with emergency supplies such as mosquito nets, soap, cooking sets, and shelter materials

Baby Rhoda (see photo) is just one of the many children who received life-saving support last year, thanks in part to your compassion and generosity. When Rhoda arrived at a World Vision clinic in South Sudan, she was malnourished and weak from malaria. After weeks of treatment with fortified nutrient packets, she is back on the road to healthy growth, along with 5,000 other young children who were treated at this clinic in 2017.

 In February 2018, World Vision opened five more nutrition centers in Juba. The centers aim to provide 15,000 malnourished children, pregnant women, and nursing mothers with nutrition supplements and food packs, regular health check-ups, and advice for caregivers. The centers will also empower and equip community volunteers to do house-to-house visits to measure children, identify potential cases of malnutrition, and refer children for treatment. “Catching children in the early stages of malnutrition is essential. Enlisting community volunteers ensures children are not put at a greater risk of disease and death,” said Dr. Mesfin Loha, World Vision’s interim national director in South Sudan.

OUR WORK IN EAST AFRICA

World Vision has worked in East Africa for more than 40 years, helping to improve the quality of life of vulnerable children and families through long-term development and relief programs. Our efforts are focused on WASH, health, education, economic development, nutrition and food security, child protection, prevention of violence, and emergency response.

 Because World Vision already had a presence in East African communities, staff was able to respond to the hunger crisis early. Funding provided through child sponsorship programs in Kenya and Ethiopia enabled our local staff to observe communities’ needs early, in 2016, before the crisis intensified. They responded accordingly, providing drought-resistant seeds and training for farmers, cash-for work programs, and other interventions that help families avert crisis or weather it more successfully.

 By the time the hunger crisis became full-fledged last year, staff members in South Sudan and Somalia already were helping communities struggling with food insecurity and malnutrition due to conflict and years of persistent drought.