The Horn of Africa and the Sahel are threatened by drought and famine. The need for aid is far greater than what the UN has set aside for this purpose, Caritas Africa writes in a statement and calls for urgent action.

While the world's attention is focused on the war in Ukraine, millions of people in Burkina Faso, Niger, Mali, Nigeria, South Sudan, Ethiopia and Kenya are facing drought and famine. In Ethiopia, Somalia and Kenya, 12-13 million people are in need of emergency food aid as a result of the drought.

The status of aid work is the topic of a UN meeting on April 26. What was originally intended to be a pledging conference has been downgraded to a roundtable discussion. The UN has announced in advance that 30 million dollars will go to the cause, but this is far from enough. With the exception of the US, no other major donors have pledged to increase their support.

Caritas requires the following priorities:

1. Address the funding gap. According to figures from the end of March, only 3 percent of the UN's total 2022 humanitarian pot of USD 6 billion has been allocated to Ethiopia, Somalia and South Sudan.
2. Support local leadership in the crisis response. To ensure that more people are reached, humanitarian aid must be channeled through national and local organizations that have a presence and trust in the local community. In the affected countries, national Caritas organizations have highlighted the importance of increased long-term funding to effectively address food insecurity and related issues. A concrete example is the grants from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), which are awarded for three to four months at a time. Time that could be spent on strengthening local food security is spent on writing applications for more grants.
3. Address the root causes of hunger and support community resilience in the longer term. Conflict, climate change and weak governance systems affect food security, increasing the risk of drought and famine. There are no quick or easy solutions to these challenges, but we cannot continue to "band-aid" the wound with short-term solutions. The need for longer-term measures is great. Long-term and localized funding provides more predictability and adaptation to local needs in concrete terms, in collaboration with local authorities and local organizations.

- To make local communities better equipped to deal with drought and famine, we can point to good results from the use of loan and savings groups. This gives small farmers the opportunity to invest in their own crops and build networks. When they can also sell and buy locally produced food at the market, the general standard of living in the area is also raised.

secretary general martha skretteberg in caritas norway

She also points out that the distribution of local seed varieties and agricultural tools in combination with training in modern and more efficient agricultural techniques are important measures. So is training in how the local population can anticipate and plan for potential crises such as floods and droughts.