11 June 2008

As poor rains lead to severe food shortages in Ethiopia, the British Red Cross has responded by supporting food distribution in the country.

The organisation is concerned about increasing levels of malnutrition and the growing vulnerability of people affected by the ongoing food crisis. Responding to the crisis, the Ethiopian Red Cross is already providing food and relief assistance in order to meet critical needs.

Pete Garratt, British Red Cross relief operations manager, said: "By acting so quickly, we are seeking to avert what could become a major humanitarian crisis. We have supported the Ethiopian Red Cross with £93,000 from our Disaster Fund to help provide food for 40,000 of the most vulnerable people in the Damot Pulasa region – one of the worst affected areas of Southern Ethiopia.

"The most severely affected groups in the region – numbering 14,000 people – include children, the elderly and pregnant mothers."

Emergency response

The Ethiopian Red Cross has already conducted an emergency needs assessment and the British Red Cross will be supporting further assessments to identify additional solutions to meet people's needs. Pete added: "We will receive further recommendations on how to most effectively support the emergency response. By acting now, we are looking to prevent a much worse situation later in the year.

"However, admissions to therapeutic feeding centres and recent increases in malnutrition rates clearly demonstrate that there are already significant needs now."

Earlier this year, in a bid to counter growing food insecurity issues throughout the continent, the International Federation of the Red Cross launched an Africa Food Security Initiative, which will help National Societies such as the Ethiopian Red Cross to better prepare for and respond to the challenges of the current global food crisis.

Reaching vulnerable people

This initiative will enable 15 Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies in Africa to develop the capacity, skills and resources to have a positive, lasting impact on food security. Participating countries will reach at least 20 per cent of the most vulnerable people in their communities with long-term food security solutions, such as micro finance and small-scale irrigation schemes, thereby improving their ability to cope with shocks like drought.

The participating National Societies are in Burkina-Faso, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Namibia, Niger, Rwanda, Sudan, Swaziland, Uganda and Zambia. 

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