Horn of Africa Drought 2011 – Give me hope that ‘help’ is coming!

 

Title	Horn of Africa   Drought 2011 – Give me hope that ‘help’ is coming!
Director(s)	RGB Street Scholar
Date released	2011
Production company	RGB Street Scholar
Length	4.10mins
Location	Somalia, Kenya, Djibouti, Ethiopia
Keywords/tags	Food security, climate, food aid,   activism
Link to film	http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U8YoCdMpMUU&feature=share&list=PLIAHio7X18uEHwLYz6zWwgoV96r3BLu1X
Synopsis	This music video (featuring a remix   of the Tracy Chapman song ‘Let It Rain’) endeavours to highlight the urgent   need of our brothers and sisters in Horn of Africa, whose lives are   endangered by the worst drought in sixty years. More than 10 million people   (including those in the worst affected areas of Somalia, Kenya, Djibouti, and   Ethiopia). Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U8YoCdMpMUU
Reviews/discussion	United Nations and international   aid agencies say the crisis is overwhelming their ability to provide   assistance to the millions of people who are suffering… and as the agencies   are overstretched and under-funded, they are appealing for more help from the   international community. The U.N. Children’s Fund estimates more than two million young children from the Horn of Africa are malnourished, and in need of urgent life-saving actions. It says half a million of those children are facing imminent life-threatening conditions… and warns that many of the children may be left with long-lasting physical and mental problems. Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) teams are fully stretched in various locations   inside Somalia, as well as assisting exhausted refugees crossing Somalia’s   borders into Ethiopia and Kenya. According to World Vision… Risks of the outbreak of disease are growing,   and people’s access to food and water is in jeopardy. Children are among   those most vulnerable in the worst hit countries of Ethiopia, Kenya, and   Somalia. Save the Children has advised that more than a quarter of children in the   worst-hit parts of Kenya are now dangerously malnourished… and in Somalia,   malnutrition rates have reached 30 percent in some areas, making the Horn of   Africa one of the hungriest places on earth. Save the Children has already launched a major humanitarian response in   Kenya, Somalia and Ethiopia… feeding tens of thousands of underweight   children; providing life-saving medical treatment; and getting clean water to   remote communities. But with the situation worsening by the day – and no more   rain due till late September – Save the Children urgently needs money to   dramatically ramp up its response. According to Matt Croucher, Save the Children’s regional emergency manager   for East Africa… “Thousands of children could starve if we don’t get   life-saving help to them fast”… “Parents no longer have any way   to feed their children; they’ve lost their animals; their wells have dried   up; and food is too expensive to afford”… “We can stop this   tragedy unfolding, but we only have half the money we need. We urgently need   to raise the rest so we can save more children’s lives.” Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U8YoCdMpMUU
Links to other resources	World Food   Programme https://www.wfp.org/ Save the Children: https://secure.savethechildren.org/ Médecins Sans Frontières: http://www.msf.org/ CARE International: https://my.care.org World Vision: http://donate.worldvision.org Unicef: http://www.supportunicef.org Plan International: http://plan-international.org Oxfam International: http://www.oxfam.org/ Oxfam published a briefing on   climate change and drought in east Africa The Guardian Poverty Matters Blog: Posted by Duncan Green , Monday 8 August 2011   07.00 BST guardian.co.uk

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East Africa food crisis appeal 2011

Title	East Africa food   crisis appeal 2011
Director(s)	–
Date released (year)	2011
Production company	Christian Aid
Length	1.56 mins
Location	East Africa: Kenya
Keywords/tags	Drought, food crisis, climate,   famine, aid, poverty
Link to film	http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3f3fboWwlVs&feature=share&list=PLIAHio7X18uEHwLYz6zWwgoV96r3BLu1X
Synopsis	As the drought intensifies in north   eastern and eastern Kenya, Christian Aid partner CCSMKE provides much need   relief, including transporting water to villages experiencing the worst of   the drought conditions. Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3f3fboWwlVs&feature=share&list=PLIAHio7X18uEHwLYz6zWwgoV96r3BLu1X
Reviews/discussion	From the Institute of Development Studies: The East African food   crisis: beyond drought and food aid 11 July 2011   Millions   of East Africans are once again threatened by famine. The last major famine   in the region occurred in Ethiopia, not in 1984 when an estimated 590,000   people died, but in the country’s Somali Region in 2000 when between 70,000   and 120,000 lives were lost. Just over a decade later, the humanitarian response has   started too late, as it did in 1983 and 1999, and many preventable deaths   have already been reported. What are the real causes of this crisis – beyond   drought – and what are the most appropriate responses – beyond food aid? Drought,   or vulnerability to drought? Drought-triggered food crises are regular events in   arid and semi-arid areas of the Horn of Africa. The famine of 2000 in   Ethiopia followed a sequence of droughts that started in 1997. In northern   Kenya, a complete failure of the short rains in 2005 caused 30-40 per cent   livestock losses and distress migration of pastoralists, 3.5 million of whom   needed emergency assistance. Another drought followed in 2008/9, and the   current crisis was precipitated by many districts recording the driest rainy   season in 60 years. But drought doesn’t cause famine: vulnerability to   drought causes famine. The causes of vulnerability in the Horn are complex,   but include (1) climate change (not lower rainfall, but more erratic   rainfall); (2) policy failure (not least a shameful neglect of basic   service provision for pastoralist communities); and (3) conflict   (most visibly in Somalia, also low-level violence in southern Ethiopia and   northern Kenya). Two common factors across all affected countries are   persistent droughts and a persistent failure to support the efforts of local   people to adapt to their increasingly marginal environments. One   crisis, many responses The first response must be compassion   – humanitarian relief needs to be fully supported at every level, from   individual donations to institutional advocacy. For many years, people in   northern Kenya’s arid and semi-arid districts have received food aid for   several months each year. More ambitious social protection interventions,   like the Hunger Safety Net Programme (HSNP) in northern Kenya and the   Productive Safety Net Programme (PSNP) in Ethiopia, deliver regular cash transfers to 300,000 Kenyans and   over 8 million Ethiopians, with the aims of boosting consumption, protecting   household assets and promoting investment in livelihoods. The Centre for   Social Protection, based at IDS, is monitoring and evaluating the impacts of   HSNP and PSNP. Significant positive gains have been recorded in household   food security and other indicators of wellbeing. In Somalia, prolonged civil conflict and insecurity and   an absence of government means that these forms of support are virtually   absent. However, the inability of conventional social protection to build   resilience against severe shocks has been dramatically exposed by the ongoing   emergency. Because the underlying causes of vulnerability in the Horn were   never systematically addressed, the crisis never really went away. Second, better analysis is needed, not just to sharpen responses   to the current crisis but to reduce the likelihood of similar crises in   future. (1)   What caused the crisis?Drought was certainly the trigger, but understanding   causes requires analysing livelihoods, policy processes (in agriculture,   pastoralism, social protection) and national, regional and global politics. (2) How   severe is the crisis? How many people need immediate relief? How   badly affected are they? What assistance will they need to rebuild their   livelihoods once food aid stops? (3) Why was the response late?Did early warning   systems fail to sound the alarm? Or did governments and donor agencies fail   to respond, and if so, why? Third, more effective risk management   mechanisms are needed. These could include: (1) making social protection   interventions more flexible, by scaling up the HSNP and PSNP in difficult   years, or (2) offering low-paid work on demand, along the lines of India’s   Employment Guarantee Scheme, or (3) subsidising weather-indexed crop and   livestock insurance schemes (this is being piloted in Kenya). Recent thinking   on ‘adaptive social protection’, which links social protection, climate   change adaptation and disaster risk management, shows how an integrated   approach can enhance resilience to shocks and stresses. Finally, the most sustainable solution is to build more   resilient   livelihoods. This includes conflict resolution mechanisms and   lifting restrictions on mobility and cross-border trade. It also implies   supporting alternative livelihoods and exits from pastoralism for those who   choose this (but not forced sedentarisation). Governments need to invest   seriously in education, especially for girls, to empower the next generation   with the skills they need to pursue less climate-sensitive livelihood   options. Act now,   plan for tomorrow The humanitarian imperative to minimise avoidable   suffering demands that we act now. But equally important is to take steps to   minimise avoidable suffering in the future. Only by understanding what went   wrong this time can the links from early warning to response be strengthened,   effective risk management mechanisms installed and climate-sensitive   livelihoods made more resilient. Ultimately, this requires political   commitment at the highest levels. In the meantime, as individuals we must do   what we can. Please donate. By Stephen Devereux ,  IDS Fellow. Source: http://www.ids.ac.uk/news/the-east-african-food-crisis-beyond-drought-and-food-aid See related discussions at: https://ejoltdocumentaries.wordpress.com/2013/04/02/east-africa-famine-appeal-the-need-in-drought-striken-areas/
Links to other resources	For critical discussion of FOOD   AID: http://www.globalissues.org/article/748/food-aid Christian Aid: http://www.christianaid.org.uk Save the Children: http://www.savethechildren.org/site/c.8rKLIXMGIpI4E/b.7539035/k.B9FB/Africa_Drought_Sparks_Food_Shortage_Child_Hunger_and_Humanitarian_Crisis.htm The Guardian News: http://www.guardian.co.uk/global-development/2011/jul/12/east-africa-drought-food-crisis