[This post continues the previous two about poverty and the Christian community. It turns from theological and Biblical reflection and theory to note the current drought, famine, and human catastrophe facing many countries in Africa.]
The drought in many parts
of Africa is serious but very little in the news as the intrigues of
Washington, London, Paris, and Berlin capture the headlines. World Relief says that the drought is
the worst hitting Africa since 1945.[1] According to IRIN, thousands, even millions, of people (the numbers are given in
parentheses) in seventeen countries are facing severe circumstances in Africa
after two years of drought: Eritrea (450,000+), Ethiopia (5.7 million),
Djibouti (227,463), Somalia (6.2 million), Sudan (4.6 million), Kenya (2.6
million), Uganda (390,000+), Tanzania (unknown), Malawi (6.7 million), Angola
(1.2 million), Zimbabwe (4.1 million), Madagascar (978,000), Mozambique (2
million+), Swaziland (638,000), Lesotho (159,959), Burundi (3 million), and
Rwanda (unknown).[2] Another assessment, by the ‘Charity Navigator,’
says with particular reference to Somalia that:[3]
·
11.3 million people in
the Horn of Africa are in need of food assistance due to the drought
·
Food prices are up as
much as 200% in parts of Somalia
·
Greater than 3.7
million people are in need of humanitarian assistance in Somalia
·
Almost half of the
population is malnourished in the southern parts of Somalia – this is the
highest malnutrition rate in the world
Action Aid currently reports (but no date is given
on the website) that 3.5-5 million in Kenya are in urgent need of food until
the possibility of the next rainy season comes in October.[4] UNICEF highlights
the crisis in four countries: Nigeria (450,000 children), Somalia (270,000
children), South Sudan (270,000 children), and (outside Africa) Yemen (460,000
children).[5] Even so, not all countries facing drought are
listed. South Africa and Zambia, for
example, also need to be added to the list of drought-stricken regions.[6] Oxfam estimates the following:[7]
· Ethiopia: 300,000
acutely malnourished children 9.2 million people without safe drinking water,
and 5.6 million people in need of food
· Kenya: 2.7 million
severely at risk in the semi-arid and coastal regions
· Somalia: 6.2
million in need of food and 360,000 acutely malnourished children
· South Sudan: 7.5
million in need of humanitarian assistance due to conflict, half the population
facing extreme hunger by mid-July
As can be seen
from the rounded and different numbers and the different countries listed,
there is a need to verify the information various groups present. However, the crisis—whatever it is—is very real.
There
are several causes of the catastrophe in the various areas. In some cases, flooding has destroyed
crops. However, the major cause of the
disaster is the failure of rains for two successive seasons. War and displacement of people are also a
major causes of the current catastrophe in Africa.
Various countries and aid
agencies have responded to the need. For
example, Turkey has announced an aid campaign through the Turkish Red Crescent.[8] USAID’s Foreign Disaster Assistance has given
approximately $4.2 million ‘in multi-sector assistance and USAID’s Office of
Food for Peace has provided more than $52 million in emergency food assistance’
for hard hit areas in Southern Africa—Angola, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi,
Mozambique, Namibia, Swaziland, and Namibia.[9] The Independent
reported in February, 2017 that the United Kingdom would send 100 million
pounds each to Somalia and South Sudan.[10]
What are Christian
charities doing to address these needs? The
following list of agencies and missions randomly selected highlights several important
and interesting efforts underway by Christians.
(No ranking or advocacy for any agency is intended. Nor is this by any means a complete list.) In my view, the safest and best funding of
aid and missions is funding that includes persons working for the agency on the
ground and that has a high percentage of the funds actually going to the relief
effort.[11] A combination of aid and mission work can address both physical and spiritual needs and allow
first-hand assessment of real needs.
Africa Oasis Project:
Website: http://www.africaoasisproject.org/
‘The Africa Oasis Project (AOP) is an aggressive effort to respond to the critical problem of inadequate and unsafe water creating high-risk in the lives of people throughout Africa.’
‘The Africa Oasis Project (AOP) is an aggressive effort to respond to the critical problem of inadequate and unsafe water creating high-risk in the lives of people throughout Africa.’
‘Faith-based - An
approved effort of U.S. Assemblies of God World Missions-Africa, partnering
with a vast network of 45,000 local congregations throughout Africa as
community touch points.’
Barnabas
Aid:
The
above website offers a map and list of projects that Barnabas Aid gives to in
Africa, the Middle East, Asia, and Europe.
Compassion
International
Areas
in Africa that Compassion International reaches include Kenya, Ethiopia,
Uganda, and Tanzania.
Convoy
of Hope
Website: https://www.convoyofhope.org
Convoy
of Hope works domestically in the USA and internationally, including in relief
work in Tanzania, Kenya, and Ethiopia.
Samaritan’s
Purse:
Website: https://www.samaritanspurse.org/what-we-do/water/
and
Samaritan’s Purse is
involved in a variety of aid projects, including water, sanitation, and
hygiene.
World
Vision:
Website:https://www.worldvision.org/disaster-response-news-stories/global-drought-food-shortages-2017
World
Vision highlights its present aid for drought and famine stricken areas
affecting 70 million people in 2017: in Africa, these include Nigeria, South
Sudan, Somalia, Kenya, Ethiopia, and the Lake Chad basin.
[1] World Relief, online: https://www.worldrelief.org/africa-food-crisis?gclid=CJ--0eul9dMCFUlMDQodeFYNXA. Accessed 16 May, 2017.
[2] ‘Drought in Africa 2017’ (17 March
2017). See online: https://www.irinnews.org/feature/2017/03/17/drought-africa-2017. The article briefly identifies issues each
region is facing. Accessed 16 May, 2017.
[4] ‘East Africa Drought Questions
Answered.’ Online: http://www.actionaid.org/what-we-do/emergencies-conflict/east-africa-drought/east-africa-drought-questions-and-answers.
Accessed 16 May, 2017.
[5] ‘Nearly 1.4 Million Children May
Starve as ‘Four-Country’ Famine Looms’ (21 April, 2017). Online: https://www.unicefusa.org/stories/nearly-14-million-children-may-starve-four-country-famine-looms/32005?utm_campaign=2017_misc&utm_medium=cpc&utm_source=20171122_Google&utm_content=Nonbrand_Famine&ms=cpc_dig_2017_misc_20171122_Google_Famine&initialms=cpc_dig_2017_misc_20171122_Google_Nonbrand_Famine. Accessed 16 May, 2017.
[6] Ismail Akwei, ‘Reality of the Worst
Drought Since 1945 Peaking in Parts of Africa,’ Africa News (16 May, 2017).
Online: http://www.africanews.com/2017/03/17/depth-of-the-worst-drought-since-1945-peaking-in-parts-of-africa//. Accessed 16 May, 2017.
[7] Online: http://www.oxfam.org.uk/what-we-do/emergency-response/east-africa-food-crisis. Accessed 16 May, 2017.
[8] Abdur Rahman Alfa Shaban, ‘Turkey
Launches Aid Campaign for drought-hit Horn of Africa and Yemen,’ Africa News (16 May, 2017). Online:
http://www.africanews.com/2017/03/05/turkey-launches-aid-campaign-for-drought-hit-horn-of-africa-and-yemen//. Accessed 16 May, 2017.
[9] Online: https://www.usaid.gov/crisis/southernafrica. Accessed 16 May, 2017.
[10] Katie Forster, ‘Somalia and South
Sudan to Receive ₤100 Million Each in UK Aid,’ Independent (21 February, 2017).
Online: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/somalia-south-sudan-uk-aid-100-million-famine-package-starvation-emergency-food-dfid-priti-patel-a7592561.html. Accessed 16 May, 2017.
[11] Note that ‘Charity Navigator’
lists how much of funds collected actually goes to the need itself—an important
issue given the fact that some relief efforts have, notoriously, spent more on
themselves than the crisis for which they have raised funds. However, they do not cover every charity: it
should be used for the charities it lists, but it should not be used to rule out
other charities.
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