East Africa drought- millions at risk

Investment that will boost agricultural production in Eastern Africa is vital if famines such as the one currently threatening the region are to be averted in the future.

Up to 10 million people in Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia are at risk, following some of the worst droughts experienced in the region in nearly 60 years.

“This East African crisis is real, and needs an immediate humanitarian fix. But it doesn’t need to be that way”, said Self Help Africa CEO Ray Jordan.

“Steps can and must be taken to increase food production amongst small-holder farmers, who account for up to 80% of the population in affected areas. It is a bitter irony that the people who are most at risk of the current famine threat are communities who are best placed to solve the problem’,” he stated.

In East Africa, 237 million people live in rural areas. They depend on agriculture for their livelihoods but are cultivating soils which are becoming progressively less productive.

Most smallholder farmers do not produce enough food to feed themselves and their families. Instead, they are net buyers of food.

With incomes of little more than $1 US a day, they cannot afford to buy much – especially when food prices rise due to poor harvests.

Organising farmers into cooperatives and producer groups, providing farmers with agricultural training and support, supporting irrigation and crop diversification, and improving access to markets all help small-scale producers to grow the crops and earn the incomes that are necessary to avert these food crises, Mr. Jordan said.

“This approach, allied to steps that help communities to adapt to the effects of climate change are needed if famine in sub-Saharan Africa is to be consigned to the history books,” he added.

Progress in developing agriculture can and is having an impact on poverty levels in Africa. In Ghana for example an intensive programme of agricultural investment has brought poverty levels in the country down from 52% to just 20% in the past 20 years, he concluded.

Self Help Africa works in nine countries in sub-Saharan Africa, supporting rural farming communities to produce more food, earn a living, and helping farmer producers to adapt to the challenges caused by climate change.

To support Self Help Africa's efforts to eradicate famine and hunger in Africa click on the button (right).

Traditional watering holes are running low

Staple crops such as maize (above) are dying

Farmers are travelling longer distances to find water for livestock

Read more about our work supporting African communities to adapt to the effects of a changing climate.

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