Africa Drought and Famine Fund

It's been 20 months since we launched this relief fund in response to acute famine and drought conditions across East Africa, and significant challenges to food security persist throughout the region, including lower than expected rainfall and internal conflicts. USAID's Famine Early Warning Systems Network projects that substantial portions of Ethiopia, Somalia, South Sudan, and Sudan will experience either "crisis" or "emergency" levels of food insecurity over the next four months, while the majority of Kenya's territory will continue to be classified as "stressed."

Thanks to 3,005 donors like you who've raised more than $186,000 to support our Africa Drought and Famine Relief Fund, our vetted nonprofit partners remain committed to helping communities across the region combat acute food insecurity and build the resilience of local food systems. Here are three updates from projects that your donation has supported:

• Due to inconsistent rainfall in Kenya’s arid north, Child Rescue Kenya has seen an influx of families and homeless children arriving in the rift valley city of Kitale. They’re continuing their two-pronged approach to assisting those migrating because of drought: helping families become more self-sufficient through education about modern, effective farming practices, and providing support for children living on the streets through their Street Smart drop-in center, street-level outreach by social workers, and providing safe temporary housing at their Birunda Rescue Centre.
• Seed Programs International has been strengthening their partnerships with local NGOs in Ethiopia and Kenya. Working with Seed Savers Network Kenya, they’ve helped a school in Gilgil serving children with disabilities, many of whom require special, closely-monitored diets, start their own vegetable garden, adding fresh tomatoes, carrots, hot peppers, kale, and cabbage to the menu and allowing them to sell the excess and purchase fresh fruit. In coordination with their lead partner in Ethiopia, GrowEastAfrica, they’ve provided grain rations and direct financial assistance to purchase medicine and housing for families who’ve been internally displaced by conflict.
• In South Sudan’s northern Bahr el Ghazal region, Concern Worldwide US has supported 49 health facilities treating moderate acute malnutrition in children under five and nursing mothers, and treated young children with severe malnutrition as inpatients at Concern Stabilization Centers.

In the months to come we’ll continue to keep you updated on the ongoing work of our partners in East Africa. And thank you again, not just for donating to our Africa Drought and Famine Relief Fund, but for how you gave—you made the wise decision to donate money, rather than physical goods to support community-led relief work. Giving money after a disaster allows for quicker and more efficient deployment of resources and supports, rather than disrupts, local economies.

Warmly,
Will Frechette + the GlobalGiving Team

It has been over a year since the UN announced the largest humanitarian crisis in the world since 1945: the drought and famine which has wreaked havoc on millions throughout East Africa, Yemen, and northeast Nigeria.

Luckily our nonprofit partners have donors like you. With your generous support, our partners on the ground reached affected communities with life-saving relief services. The situation in East Africa has improved dramatically with the help of our GlobalGiving partners, other relief entities, and abundant rainfall in March and April, which makes this a good time to celebrate the accomplishments of our partners.

One organization mounted a unique response to an overlooked issue that sometimes arises when children flee from drought and resulting resource conflict in their communities. The drought hit northern Kenya harder than any other region of the country. Child Rescue Kenya (CRK), an NGO that focuses on reintegrating children living on the streets back into their families in the western Kenya city of Kitale, had to pivot their operations to accommodate the new arrivals of children due to the drought. These children were exposed to drugs, poor diet, and abuse in a city that was foreign to them. CRK stepped up and scaled up. Their social workers traveled throughout Kitale to identify new arrivals on the street and refer them to their short-term or long-term centers, depending on the specific need of the child. CRK staff then visited and provided resources to children’s families, such as business grants or bio-intensive agriculture training, which is particularly important to build resilience and take advantage of limited resources and rainfall. If there’s no family in the picture, CRK provides long-term, holistic services, such as education and housing.

World Vision reached over 3.1 million people in East Africa with food and livelihood assistance. Concern Worldwide was able to recently make cash transfers to 1,606 vulnerable households in southern Somalia, a region dealing with significant food insecurity.

Thank you again for standing with people affected by drought and famine, and for making the smart choice to donate in support of community-led disaster recovery efforts.

Warmly, 
Andrew Denu + the GlobalGiving Team