Topic: Food Security and Nutrition

Countries in the Horn of Africa are experiencing a severe drought. Learn some of the most important facts here:

World Food Day has been marked every year on 16 October since 1979, and is observed by more than 150 countries. One can’t help but reflect on the social inequity that for millions of people, food is – at best –- bare sustenance to make it to tomorrow. by Wolfgang Jamann, CEO and Secretary General of CARE International

Southern Africa is experiencing its worst drought in 35 years. In a region in which more than 70% of the population depend on agriculture, this has caused the worst food security crisis since 1991/92.

Before CARE built the community pond, Thy had to buy water when this became scarce. If she hadn’t learned to make a good income from her home-raised livestock, she wouldn’t have had additional money she could spend on this water.

Atália Massango knows what it means to be thirsty. The mother of four children lives in Mulepo, a small settlement in Inhambane province in southern Mozambique. Like many other mothers, she used to leave her home in the early morning on the hours-long journey to fetch water.

The recent formation of the transitional government in South Sudan brought the hope of peace for a country wrought with conflict since December 2013. However, as the world’s youngest country marks its fifth Independence Day on July 9, economic fallout, political instability and risk of famine loom large and threaten South Sudan’s future, warns CARE.

“What exactly is El Niño?” I was asked this question more than once in the past months. For many El Niño is an abstract term, something that reminds them of difficult geology lessons. For 40 million people in Southern Africa, however, this weather phenomenon caused by warm water collected in the western Pacific moving back eastwards, has very real and concrete ramifications.

As the new UN Special Envoy on El Niño and Climate Change, Ms Mary Robinson, visits Ethiopia this week, CARE, a leading international humanitarian organization, calls on her to support the Ethiopian government further in its efforts to raise global attention to the current food insecurity.

10.2 million people in Ethiopia are in need of emergency food assistance because of the extreme drought caused by the global weather phenomenon El Niño, according to revised figures released by the Ethiopian government Friday.