Horn of Africa Crisis: Progress to Date, Daunting Challenges Ahead

Given the immense scale of the humanitarian disaster affecting the Greater Horn of Africa—some 12 million people across four countries—we fear this devastating food crisis will continue well into next year. Even as we struggle to reach everyone in need of help, it’s clear that hundreds of thousands of families will remain in urgent need of food and assistance in the coming months, even if the rains arrive later this year.

As our teams scale up Action Against Hunger’s response across the region—we’ve assisted well over 500,000 people since March—we’ll be able to help more families and farming communities cope with the drought’s deadly fallout: the widespread water shortages, livestock losses, food shocks from ruined harvests and skyrocketing food prices, and the alarming rates of deadly malnutrition among young children.

My little girl died this weekend. She was two years old [and] became thinner and thinner. When she was taken to the hospital, it was already too late. Despite her death, I am grateful that my baby son has a chance to be saved. And I now know that he will be okay.” —Ambia, mother and resident of Garbatulla, Kenya

Across Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, and Djibouti, we’re helping thousands of children in the hardest-hit regions—from the 3,000 malnourished children we’re treating in Somalia, to our efforts in Garbatulla, Kenya, where one in five children is now malnourished. We’re racing to reduce the impact of water shortages by constructing wells, drilling boreholes, and installing storage devices to capture future rainfall, in addition to promoting hygiene to prevent the spread of diarrhea, cholera, and other water-borne diseases.

Our teams are also working on long-term solutions to help rebuild livelihoods, restore farming capacity, and begin to identify new sources of income to help families weather future climate shocks and food shortages.

Over the next few days, we'll be providing country-by-country updates on our efforts across the region. Subscribe now to stay informed!

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