East Africa Food Crisis Appeal
East Africa is facing its worst food crisis for decades, following four years of failed harvests, erratic rainfall and rocketing global food prices.
Up to 20 million people in Kenya, Somalia and Ethiopia are going hungry every day, with severe malnutrition amongst infants and young children.
Women and girls, who often eat last and least, are bearing the brunt of the emergency. Women are trying to survive and care for their children while at risk of increased sexual violence and exploitation.
Local women, young people and partner organisations on the ground are leading our response, but they urgently need your support to expand their life-saving activities and avert a catastrophe.
Will you act now to save lives? Please donate.
ActionAid’s response to East Africa Food Crisis
The world must act immediately to avert famine across East Africa. You can donate to ActionAid’s urgent appeal
ActionAid’s emergency teams are working with local partner organisations, women leaders and young people to provide live-saving food relief, water, and livelihoods support.
In Somalia (in the autonomous area of Somaliland): ActionAid is providing emergency food and livelihood supports (cash and animal feed), water and protection support and long-term development actions.
In Kenya ActionAid is providing cash transfers, rehabilitating water sources, providing food to the most vulnerable families and school feeding programmes.
In Ethiopia ActionAid is already responding to the devastating humanitarian crisis in Tigray, Amhara and Afar with food and cash support , and providing dignity kits including solar lights, soap and period pads for women and girls. ActionAid is also assisting people to improve the health of their livestock, which they reply on for food and income.
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East Africa Food Crisis Appeal
Halimo’s story
Halimo Ahmed Yusuf, 45, (pictured right and above) is a pregnant mother of 9 currently living in Ceel-Dheere, Somaliland. Halimo is feeling the full force of the latest drought after losing her livestock, and subsequently her milk and meat business. Without any means of income, Halimo is forced to spend her days searching far and wide for water to give her family, sometimes up to 5 hours each way:
“We don’t have access to water and water tanks are sometimes in far-away locations. It can take me five hours to get water, and sometimes it happens that I don’t get any. [The lack of water] affects [the children] as there is not food for them. Thirst is a problem too – our babies cry because of it.”
Halimo and her family were part of ActionAid’s emergency cash transfer response earlier this year that supported 200 households with $60 per month.
What is causing the food crisis
The food crisis has been caused by multiple factors including the escalating impact of climate change with back-to-back droughts and locust plagues, the Covid-19 pandemic and protracted conflict. The food crisis is largely caused by negative impacts of climate change as global actions fall short to limit global warming. And the war in Ukraine aggravated an already acute situation. Rocketing global food and energy costs are disproportionally affecting those already experiencing hunger in Eastern Africa.
Amina Yusuf, aged 90, photographed in April by ActionAid.
The world must act immediately to avert famine across East Africa
Governments and the international community must provide swift financial assistance to help people in urgent need of food and water. This includes more direct funding to local and national organisations led by women and young people at the forefront of the crisis.
Governments must rapidly train farmers on agroecological approaches to help avert a loss of crops caused by a worldwide fertiliser shortage.
In the long-term, governments must shift public and private finance from industrial agriculture and fossil fuel to advert a future exacerbation of the climate crisis and instead free up funds to help communities build resilience to future shocks.
How your donation will be used
90% of your donation will go directly to our East Africa Food Crisis Appeal.
10% of your donation will be retained for ActionAid Ireland to raise funds, governance and other operational costs.
