Irish aid organisations scaling up as food crises in Horn of Africa puts millions of lives at risk

Since May of this year, estimates of the number of people across the world who will experience crisis levels of hunger in 2022 have risen from 181 million people to 345 million. In East Africa, one person is dying of hunger every 48 seconds.

The most severe and enduring challenges are being felt across Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia and South Sudan, where around 37 million people are projected to experience crisis or catastrophic levels of food crises in years.

Speaking about the deteriorating situation across East Africa, Dóchas CEO, Jane-Ann McKenna said “Lives are being lost every day. It is the scale of food scarcity in East Africa that is the most devastating. The land is parched; water sources that have been there for generations are now dry. It is very worrying that future predictions are also quite dire, with the next rainy season due to fail.”

“Irish aid organisations and their local partners are on the ground now and scaling up their response to the crisis. Dóchas members are present across the region and are engaged in delivering essential humanitarian and development assistance to help the most vulnerable.”

Irish aid organisationss are responding to the acute humanitarian needs of communities across the Horn of Africa. This includes food distribution (World Vision, CBM Ireland, UNICEF), health screening (Concern, GOAL), Water, Sanitation and hygiene interventions (Trócaire, A Partnership with Africa) and cash transfers (Christian Aid, Action Aid Ireland).

Irish organisations are also working with local communities to maintain and support sustainable livelihoods (Self Help Africa, Don Bosco Aid), education (Brighter Communities Worldwide) and girls rights (Plan International Ireland, Aidlink).

The immediacy and scale of this food crisis demands a multi-pronged and collective approach. Several Irish Aid organisations have launched appeals to meet the escalating needs. Full details of Dóchas members’ appeals can be found here.

 Lead image: Concern workers in northern Kenya. Concern Worldwide