12 September 2008

With thousands of children in Ethiopia facing acute malnutrition, the British Red Cross has launched an appeal to provide emergency aid.

The urgent needs are a combined result of drought and escalating food prices. Vulnerable households have been forced to sell their livestock and agricultural tools at throw-away prices in order to buy food. The number of people needing emergency assistance is already high and could rise considerably in the coming months.

A humanitarian catastrophe

Mary Atkinson, British Red Cross food security and livelihoods advisor, said: "The Ethiopian government estimates that 4.7 million people are affected. Continued action is needed to avoid a humanitarian catastrophe."

"The worst-affected areas in southern Ethiopia are very poor and many people struggle to get enough food even in a better year. When harvests fail, as they have this year, they have few resources to fall back on.

"Added to this, food prices have shot up, which affects people in both rural and urban areas. It means that those who need to buy more food as a result of losing their crops cannot afford to do so."

Emergency relief

The Ethiopian Red Cross, supported by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, is running an operation to meet the needs of 76,000 people in southern Ethiopia. The British Red Cross has contributed £293,000 to this relief operation, but much more funding is needed in order to provide sufficient emergency food and relief distributions.

In southern Ethiopia, the Red Cross has distributed food to more than 40,000 people in Damot Pulasa and Damot Gale, in Wolayita Zone. These are two of the worst-affected areas with more than 16,000 children suffering acute malnutrition. Lives will be at risk unless emergency food distributions continue until the next main harvest in January.

Access to clean water will also have a major impact on the health of people affected by the drought. The Red Cross is increasing household access to safe drinking water by rehabilitating 22 of the non-functioning wells in Damot Pulasa and through rehabilitating boreholes in Damot Gale. 

Recovering livelihoods

Providing emergency food assistance will save lives in the coming months, but it is not a long-term solution. The population in the Wolayita Zone traditionally engages in agriculture and livestock tending, but there is not enough pasture available for the number of households. Along with drought, this is a major factor in ongoing food insecurity.

Although there have been recent rains, they came too late for the last harvest. It is now time to start planting again but many households have sold their tools and also lack seeds, as they have had to eat them.

The Red Cross is providing vital support in the form of agricultural tools and seeds, together with improving access to water. The operation will enable affected communities to restore their livelihoods and gradually return to their former levels of agricultural production and income.

More about the Ethiopia Food Crisis Appeal

What the Red Cross is doing to help

How you can help