People all across Africa are facing chronic food insecurity that in some cases has dragged on for years. As people struggle to grow and buy food, they find themselves stuck in a cycle of hunger that is slowly spiraling downward.
For example, around 4.5 million people are facing the crisis in the southern African country of Malawi. Nearly 2 million more in Zambia are hungry, and an estimated 3-5 million more in Zimbabwe face similar trouble.
This isn't a famine; it's a long-term shortage of nutritious food. People living in chronic poverty do not have the assets to recover from crop losses and plagues of locusts. Without adequate recovery time between crises, it doesn't take much to push families into hunger. Though we're unlikely to see mass migrations of people in search of food, millions are unable to produce or buy food, even as there are millions more who do have reliable access to food.
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A Multi-Faceted Problem
The United Nations has identified a "triple threat" that increases the vulnerability of the African people to the problem of chronic food shortage:
- Poor harvests due to erratic rainfall
- Growing impact of the AIDS epidemic
- Weakening ability of governments to respond
While there hasn't been a drought, rainfall has been unreliable — starting early and finishing late, with gaps in periods that stunt proper crop development.
AIDS has killed millions of adults in their prime, and many more are chronically ill, requiring care from their families that takes them away from productive activities.
Many African governments are operating with too few resources to do much about the food shortages.
Other local factors, such as plagues of locusts and food exports that leave some areas without enough to feed their own people, are part of the problem.
But chronic poverty means that as each successive crisis — even a minor one — forces families to buy food. When they run out of cash, they must sell off productive assets, such as agricultural tools, to buy food in the short term. People are becoming progressively poorer. Food stores are dwindling and millions of people face hunger before the next harvest in spring 2006.
Learn how to recognize the face of hunger and see CARE's 5-point response
Immediate Help Now!
Because the problem is complex, it can't be solved by simply bringing food in for the short term. Efforts to strengthen agricultural production and non-agricultural incomes have to be put in place to take care of the root causes of the food shortage, while food is brought in to handle the immediate need.
CARE is working with national and local governments and local community-based efforts to identify those with the most immediate needs. The strategy is designed to ensure that the hungry no longer need to sell off their agricultural assets or result to unsafe practices in order to secure immediate food.
Those with the greatest need and the fewest options are targeted first, such as those with tuberculosis and AIDS. CARE also provides food as payment for those who repair community infrastructure, and those who help families with chronically ill members.
Of special interest are women and children under 5 years old. Children can usually recover their weight and health without medical treatment if malnutrition is detected early enough. If it isn't caught quickly, though, they risk developmental problems or even death.
CARE also offers vouchers or cash for food where grain exists in the local market but people are impoverished and nutritional support for schools to keep children in the classroom.
Improving the Agricultural Outlook
Nothing can be done to control the weather, but CARE is working to support people's ability to grow their own food, and to buy food and other necessities into the future. This includes the introduction of animal husbandry and agricultural techniques that work well for families with limited labor capacity, and crops with greater nutritional value and which work well in areas with erratic rainfall.
In addition, CARE is trying to diversify agricultural efforts to reduce reliance on corn, by introducing gardens, fruits and winter crops that can be sustained with small-scale irrigation.
Other Long-Term Solutions
The people of Africa also need other sources of income and skills training. CARE is working to improve access to education and to create village savings and loans that strengthen the local economy and provide options for the future.
Healthcare is also essential — poor health weakens a person's ability to grow food or to work to buy it. It also drains the resources of those who must take time to care for the sick. Providing access to good healthcare is necessary to help break the cycle of hunger.
You Can Help
Although the problems behind the food crisis are complex, what you need to do is simple: the people of Africa need seeds, tools, fertilizers and pesticides to be ready for the upcoming rainy season. They need help creating the infrastructure that they can use to sustain themselves in the future.
And while they work toward the future, they must have access to food with real nutritional value.
Click here now to help feed them and other hungry people around the world.
