Extreme Hunger in East Africa

The current crisis

Droughts across East Africa have put huge swathes of Kenya, Ethiopian and Somaliland at the point of collapse, leaving an estimated 13.3 million people in urgent need of humanitarian aid.

While the region suffers from drought on an annual basis, consistently poor rainfall over the past two years have had a cumulative effect, and the land has been unable to recover. 2011 has so far proved the driest year in the region since 1951.

As a result, families have virtually run out of food and water. Crops have failed and water holes are drying up. The drought has meant there is little arable grazing land or water for animals. Families are having to watch the livestock they have invested in - their main way of earning money and feeding their families - weaken and die.

The impact on people's lives

13.3 million people are suffering from hunger and severe thirst and are at risk of becoming critically malnourished. Incidences of infant deaths are being reported as malnutrition among children under five increases. Breast-feeding mothers, pregnant women, children, the elderly and HIV and AIDS patients, who are more susceptible to changes in their diet, are particularly vulnerable.

Education is also being disrupted. A lack of water in schools is forcing their closure and those without a free daily meal program in place are reporting dwindling numbers of pupils as families are leaving their homes in search of food and water. Increasingly high dropout rates are being seen among girls, who are traditionally responsible for collecting water and carrying out domestic duties.

The story of 10 year old Badasa Hussein, who is being kept alive by ActionAid's school feeding programme shows just how vital your support is. When Badasa's dad ran away he was left to look after his mother and four little sisters. His young life has been shadowed by death "I had three friends who lived near me. They all got sick and died from different diseases" The school lunch is the only meal he gets. He takes any leftovers home to his mother and sisters and that is what they survive on.

ActionAid's response

ActionAid has already reached more than 260,000 people with emergency food supplies, water and income generating programs.

We have reached over 50,000 children in 13 drought effected areas in Kenya with our school feeding programmes and we are doing all we can to help those worst affected.

This Christmas with your support, we aim to reach additional 375,000 of the most vulnerable people - women, children and the elderly - suffering the effects of the drought. We'll be supplying nutritious meals to children in schools, helping to keep them in education by distributing food and water supplies, by drilling boreholes and setting up irrigation projects. We will also support farmers in the area to ensure families and communities can recover from this disaster in the long term.

ActionAid's approach: reaching the most vulnerable

We work with communities to identify the most vulnerable individuals and families, particularly when distributing food and water supplies, and when redistributing resources through our destocking program. Our school feeding program will be targeted at the most severely affected areas and where drop-out rates are highest. Children like Badasa are relying on us "Lunch at school is normally the only food I get. Without it, we would die of hunger."

Please give what you can now

€40 could provide a nourishing meal for 30 school children for one week

€75 could cover the cost of powering a borehoe pump to supply water to 500 people for four days

€100 will save 2,000 children battling with dehydration

Find out the latest news on the ground in Hannah Burrows blog. Hannah is an ActionAid staff member who is meeting the communities and reporting on the effects of the drought and what ActionAid is doing to support the most vulnerable victims.