crise alimentaire

In 2011, Somalia experienced a devastating famine that killed over a quarter of a million people – half of them children under the age of five. The international community failed to act in time, despite repeated warnings of an impending crisis. Yet, just over a decade later, and despite various alarms over the past two years, world leaders are once again responding too late and with too little to avert catastrophic hunger in East Africa.

Over a decade since Somalia experienced a devastating famine that killed over a quarter of a million people, another famine is looming in East Africa. Despite various warnings and alarms over the past two years, we are once again responding too late and with too little to avert the crisis. The humanitarian system must evolve in order to enable and fully fund anticipatory action.

A year and a half since the Covid-19 pandemic began, deaths from hunger are outpacing the virus. The worst is still yet to come unless governments urgently tackle food insecurity and its root causes head on. We need action to create fairer, more resilient and sustainable ways of feeding the world.

COVID-19 is deepening the hunger crisis in the world’s hunger hotspots and creating new epicentres of hunger across the globe. While governments must act to contain the spread of this deadly disease, Oxfam is also calling for urgent action to end this hunger crisis and build fairer, more robust, and sustainable food systems.

The Horn, East and Central Africa are facing a profoundly alarming hunger crisis. More than 66 million people are in need of humanitarian aid as climate extremes have caused widespread food and water shortages. Oxfam is on the ground responding but we urgently need your help to save more lives.

Advancing the right of people living in poverty to sustainable livelihoods has been a cornerstone of Oxfam’s work for many decades. Our goal is to enable millions of women and communities to become more resilient to a changing climate, and to secure access to the land and natural resources on which they depend.

Women farmers play a central role in small-scale agriculture. But they are held back by barriers that prevent them from feeding their families and reinvesting in their livelihoods. A real support would protect their rights, boost their productivity and unleash their potential to fight hunger, poverty and climate change.

There is growing scientific analysis suggesting that the impacts of current and recent droughts in East Africa are likely to have been aggravated by climate change. Without global efforts to reduce emissions and to help the world’s poorest people cope with the effects of climate change, this crisis will continue to repeat itself.

For many people in East Africa, the current drought is the worst in living memory. Nomadic pastoralists are among the hardest hit. Their livestock is completely wiped out, meaning they have no means to feed themselves. In eastern Somaliland, Oxfam witnessed entire communities on the move, desperately searching for water and pasture.

Almost four years of brutal conflict in Yemen have led to what the UN describes as the worst humanitarian situation on the globe. 60 percent of the population - 20 million people - are suffering from food insecurity and malnutrition, with nearly 14 million people facing starvation. They need your help.