The Africa Food Crisis has been described by the United Nations as the worst humanitarian emergency since World War II, with 80m people at risk of death due to starvation.
ChildFund Australia has been providing vital aid to children affected by the crisis since early 2016, focusing mainly on getting food, water and healthcare to children in need.
Right now, 2.5m children are at urgent risk of death due to extreme malnutrition. An estimated 7.5m children will suffer severe acute malnutrition in 2017. Undernutrition contributes to nearly half of all child deaths and children who survive are likely to be stunted, which severely hampers physical and mental development.
ChildFund`s national offices in Kenya and Ethiopia have been coordinating the delivery of desperately-needed aid to areas where malnutrition is rising. These country offices work closely with local governments to target hard-to-reach places, which are among the hardest hit by the Africa Food Crisis.
Our aid program includes:
Supplementary food
We provide supplementary foods, which are rich in essential vitamins and minerals, to families who do not have access to food. Unimix is a specially-designed, enriched maize and bean flour that parents can give children who are not getting enough nutrients. Packing 400 calories and many essential vitamins and minerals into 100g of flour, it is commonly used to fight malnutrition.
ChildFund also works closely with local producers to fortify maize and sorghum flour with vitamins and minerals. Once fortified, flour is sold to early childhood centres, ensuring children under five get an ongoing supply of nutritious food.
Families in drought-affected areas can also receive fortified vegetable oil and iodised salt, which provide a vitamin boost when food is in short supply.
Health Monitoring Centres
ChildFund`s health monitoring centres are a critical part of preventing deaths from malnutrition and diagnosing children early enough to limit long-term health problems. Centrally-located in hard-to-reach areas, these clinics allow staff to mass screen children for signs of poor health. The health clinics, which are usually located at early childhood centres or other well-known community buildings, are staffed with health workers equipped with MUAC (mid-upper arm circumference) bands, which detects malnutrition.
The MUAC band is a measurement tape split into three easily-distinguishable sections; red (severely malnourished), yellow (moderately malnourished) and green (healthy). Health workers use the band to measure the mid-upper arm of each child and refer malnourished children to hospitals for further management.
Early detection and ongoing monitoring is saving lives and helping children receive the help they need to avoid the life-long effects of malnutrition.
Photo: Across Africa, millions of children like two-year-old Umoro, whose family live in drought-affected Kenya, are at risk of starvation
Right now, millions of children in countries across Africa are facing starvation in a catastrophe that has been largely ignored by the international media. These facts will give you some insight into the scope of the grave situation facing millions of children.
The United Nations has called this the worst humanitarian crisis since World War II. Across Africa, over 80m people urgently need food aid. Around half are children, double the number of Australia`s total population. Somalia, Nigeria, South Sudan and Ethiopia are currently the worst-affected countries and there are serious concerns about Kenya and Cameroon. Malawi, Namibia, Niger, Zimbabwe and Chad are affected by the crisis.
Right now, 2.5m children are at urgent risk of death due to extreme malnutrition. An estimated 7.5m children will suffer severe acute malnutrition this year. Malnutrition can be fatal and has debilitating, lifelong consequences for children who survive. Children who suffer malnutrition are at greater risk of contracting disease and less likely to succeed at school or in employment.
The reason for widespread food shortages varies from country to country. Recurrent droughts underpin the crisis, but countries such as Somalia, South Sudan and parts of Nigeria are also dealing with civil conflicts that hamper the supply of desperately-needed aid.
The situation is worse than conditions in 2010-11 when 260,000 people in Somalia died, almost half of which were children under five. This is the third year of drought in the region and multiple years of poor food production has depleted food and water stocks.
Despite early warnings, the international response has been slow, hampered by a shortage of funds and lack of awareness. The world`s media have failed to use their power for good. Aid agencies like ChildFund have been responding to the food crisis since early 2016.
The crisis is expected to continue through the rest of 2017, which will put millions more children`s lives at risk. Young children are the most vulnerable people when crisis strikes.
Many drought-stricken countries are dealing with outbreaks of water-borne diseases such as cholera, caused by a lack of sanitation. As the situation deteriorates across several countries there is a growing concern about the spread of diseases.
8.8 million children across Africa have dropped out of primary school because families have been forced to abandon their homes in search of food, water and security. With their livelihoods ruined, millions of families across Africa have no choice but to leave their homes in search of food and water.
The prices of staple foods have risen sharply in drought-affected areas due to high demand and short supply. Communities that rely on selling livestock to provide income for their families, like Marsabit in Kenya, have seen the price of sheep decline by as much as 90%.
In drought-affected parts of Kenya, an estimated 90% of livestock has died due to the ongoing drought. The drought has particularly hit areas that rely on livestock for food and income.
