Church World Service steps up response to Eastern Horn of Africa famine

[Worldwide Faith News <wfn@igc.org>]

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Church World Service steps up response to E. Africa famine

Agency appeals for donations to help feed starving people

NEW YORK, N.Y. and NAIROBI, Kenya ? Thursdayy,
July 28, 2011 ? With famine in the Eastern Horn
of Africa worsening, global humanitarian agency
Church World Service is continuing its initial
response to the crisis and today announced a U.S.
fundraising campaign for critically needed food and water initiatives.

This year marks the driest period in the Eastern
Horn of Africa region since 1995, with the lowest
level of rainfall in more than 50 years and more
than 10 million people in some way affected by
the growing crisis. As a result, food security --
the access to and availability of food, as well
as its utilization -- has deteriorated for most
households in all arid and semi-arid regions in
Kenya, Somalia and Ethiopia as well as other countries in the region.

The situation has become a complex crisis. Crops
have failed, large numbers of livestock needed
for survival have perished, and local food prices
have increased substantially.

From Nairobi, Sammy Matua of the CWS East Africa
staff, says, "There is no doubt humanitarian
workers will have to 'up their game' this time
around if we have to reverse the recurring famine
crisis in Africa." Matua said the current crisis
is proof that "the impact of climate change is
here with us and it is hitting the most
vulnerable people in the world the hardest."

Last week, the global coordinating body for

nutrition, called the Nutrition Cluster under the
leadership of UNICEF, noted that recurrent
drought "resulting from consecutive years of
inadequate rains, poor harvests, soaring food
prices and the ongoing armed conflict in Somalia
have resulted in acute food shortage in parts of
Kenya and Ethiopia and famine in Southern Somalia."

It said: "In Somalia, a total of 3.7 million
people are affected. The most recent nutrition
surveys have shown that the prevalence of global
acute malnutrition ranged from 23.8 percent to 55
percent. The severe form of acute malnutrition
ranged from 5.9 percent to 29.8 percent, which is
exceptionally high as a rate of 5 percent is already worrying."

Church World Service's response includes both
immediate relief and longer-term food and
nutrition security and water initiatives. Work is
focused in Kenya, Somalia and Ethiopia.

In Kenya, CWS-implemented assistance is focused
on the Mwingi and Kibwezi areas and will include
immediate relief (for five months) involving
provision of family food packages, Unimix
nutritional supplement for children under the age
of five, and storage of water in tanks for use by drought-affected communit ies.

Longer term water initiatives already part of
NGO's disaster risk reduction work

In the longer-term, CWS will initiate food and
nutrition security and livelihoods efforts and
permanent water initiatives that are part of the
agency's already-existing disaster risk reduction initiatives in Kenya.

Looking into the future ? and back at the past--
CWS's Matua called attention to past criticisms
of how aid agencies respond to famine situations.

Matua said CWS is intent on following

international guidelines for quality, including
food aid, and in assistance that does a lot more
than just tossing out food bags. "CWS has been
working in this region long enough to appreciate
the cultural sensitivities and preferences of different communities," he sa id.

"Food aid should be provided in an empowering
way, so that it does not continue a cycle of
dependency. So, yes, for a time emergency food
assistance is needed, but we need to move a step
further and support recovery and rehabilitation
interventions that can reverse the impact of
climate change as well, Matua explained.

"We do need to be aware that there are some

actions needed now, immediately, because the
situation is dire. But those actions need to be
appropriate and restorative, for example, for
children, lactating and pregnant mothers who have
very high malnutrition levels. They need food now
that can be utilized -- sufficiently nutritious
food and supplementation that their bodies can
absorb and use to reverse their critical states
and prevent permanent damage in developing children.

"Otherwise, the future for a severely

malnourished infant or child in a Horn of Africa
kind of crisis is somber," Matua concluded.

On water solutions that go beyond crisis relief
jerry cans, Matua said, â??If you provide
communities with the skills, materials and means
to conserve water and have them construct water
retaining structures that can slow down water
runoffs whenever there is a shower or storm, that
will go a long way in reversing the impacts of drought,â?? he said.

A full interview with Sammy Matua can be accessed
online at http://bit.ly/nZgI4u.

While CWS's main response focus is in Kenya, the
agency also is supporting efforts of fellow
members of the global ACT Alliance who are
responding in Somalia and Ethiopia as well.

CWS-supported efforts in Somalia are focused on
contributing to the work by fellow ACT Alliance
members Lutheran World Federation and Norwegian
Church Aid. CWS-supported work in Ethiopia is
focused on response efforts by the Ethiopian
Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus Development and
Social Services Commission, a long-time CWS partner.

Members of the ACT Kenya Forum, including CWS,
are combining efforts targeting some 97,526
households in various emergency response and
drought recovery interventions. The initiative
plans to provide food aid for 5 months to 14,000
households; monthly food vouchers for 5 months to
25,500 households; a 5 months supply of fresh
drinking water for domestic use for 36,000
households; and water for livestock for 47,500
households. The ACT group also plans to de-worm
more than 100,000 heads of cattle.

In Somalia, CWS is supporting partner Norwegian
Church Aid in providing emergency food, non-food
items (shelter, clothing, hygiene materials),
psychosocial support and water and sanitation in
the crisis phase. In the post-crisis phase, the
agencies will assist farming and pastoral communities with livelihood recov ery.

At Dadaab camp in Kenya, which currently houses
some 358,000 refugees, about 1,300 refugees are
arriving daily from Somalia. CWS is supporting
emergency and post-emergency work by Lutheran World Federation.

The monthly ration size per individual

beneficiary consists of 15 kg wheat, 1.5 kg of
beans, as well as cooking oil, which is
calculated according to the government relief
food ration standard. As well, children under
five, pregnant and lactating women are being
prioritized to receive 1.5 kg supplementary food, known as Famix, per perso n.

Last week, the United Nations declared that

famine exists in two areas of southern Somalia,
southern Bakool and Lower Shabelle. (Famine is
declared when acute rates of malnutrition exist
among children, exceeding 30 percent; when more
than two persons per 10,000 die daily; and when
people are not able to access food and other
basics and their bodies are not able to utilize the food they do consume.)

HOW TO HELP: Donate online; by phone: (800)

297-1516; or by mail: Church World Service, 28606
Phillips Street, P.O. Box 968, Elkhart, IN,
46515. On your check, write, â??Attention: East
Africa Drought, P.O. Box 968, Elkhart, IN 46515. (Appeal #642-L)

> Media Contacts

Lesley Crosson, (212) 870-2676, media@churchworldservice.org

Jan Dragin - 24/7 - (781) 925-1526, jdragin@gis.net

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