International Save the Children Alliance
Hunger Relief in East Africa
The cries of hunger, caused by the continuing food shortage in various regions of Africa, are now at a record 11 million loud. The increasing number of children and families at-risk of malnutrition, and those already starving, is due to what Save the Children and other humanitarian organisations are calling the worst drought Africa has seen since 1984.
How can it be that children in one region of the world are starving, while others are not?
“It’s poverty. We are poor,” says 11-year-old Stevie, a Save the Children beneficiary affected by the drought. “My mum died; my dad is in the hospital; and there is no one to take care of me or my siblings, or to give us food.”
Situations like this are all too common says Loice Cheptoo, the Children's District Officer of Kajiad based in Kajiado, Kenya . “We’ve had families moving where maybe children are being left alone. Others have moved with their children and this has interrupted their education,” she says.
Many families have cut their meals down to one a day. Mothers are going without eating in order to feed their children.
“Our children are hungry. Our husbands have gone to the mountains to search for food. The goats and cows have died. The wells have dried up,” says Rosemary Adoing, a drought-effected mother living in Isiolo, Kenya.
Many of the rural farming communities affected by the drought relied on their livestock for milk and income. The drought has caused the severe malnutrition and death of these animals, thus crippling rural economies.
Save the Children is providing relief by facilitating livestock trading programs and by providing food and nutrition services, including specialized meals for children 5 years old and younger whose malnourished bodies may not be able to digest advanced grains.
Recent News
Horn of Africa Emergency Statement (11, January 2007)
Complacency could spell disaster for a million children in Horn of Africa (29, November 2006)
Watch Our Video Reports from Kenya Online
These videos describe the drought situation in Kenya, with reference to how children and their families are coping. It includes footage of our first delivery of food aid in Kajiado district in March, 2006, and interviews with children and adults in the communities where our emergency program is underway. (It provides an overview and could be shown in combination with any of the following specific-topic videos.)
Overview (7 minutes)
The Kenyan Drought and Child Labour (4 minutes)
The Imact of the Kenyan Drought on Children's Education (4 minutes)
Families in the Kenyan Drought (4 minutes)
How are girls affected by the Kenyan Drought? (4 minutes)
How Women are coping in the Kenyan Drought? (4 minutes)