Ethiopia Drought
A devastating drought in Ethiopia has caused the worst food crisis in 30 years, putting millions of people at risk of hunger and disease.
The impacts of long term climate change on rainfall patterns have combined with the onset of the strongest El Niño climate event on record to devastating effects — severely worsened food insecurity and malnutrition across vast regions of the country, and pushed people’s coping mechanisms to the limits.
More than 500,000 livestock died, and the number of people in urgent need of food and clean, safe water has been rapidly rising. Almost 8 million people received help from the Ethiopian government-led safety-net program in 2016.
This drought is still causing the wide-spread shortage of food and water stocks in Ethiopia and surrounding countries. Oxfam continues to respond to the is crisis. Read more about our response in the Horn of Africa.
Oxfam’s response
Oxfam responded to the crisis in 2016 in some of the worst affected regions, Siti (Somali Region), Afar, and West Arsi (Oromia Region).
We delivered clean water to people in drought-stricken areas, and provided emergency food and livelihood support, such as cash assistance to pay for essential items, animal feed and vaccinations for livestock, as well as providing seeds and farming tools.
The humanitarian impacts of the drought depend are now being felt across the Horn of Africa region. Affected families depend on the urgency of the response now. Please donate to the International Crisis Fund today and help provide life-saving humanitarian aid.
