Families resorting to extreme measures to survive hunger crisis

• More than 750,000 people facing famine conditions in worst hunger crisis in decades
• Photo resources below

Esther, 29, and her 20-month-old daughter Susan who is being treated for malnutrition, Turkana, Kenya.  Marion Kwambai / Save the Children

Toronto, 5 July 2022 – Families facing the worst global hunger crisis in decades are resorting to desperate means to survive, drinking from cattle troughs, eating putrid meat, and fighting off wild animals for food, according to Save the Children.

Figures show that the number of people going hungry daily has doubled to 276 million from 135 million in the past two years and now up to 750,000 people are facing famine conditions in five countries as drought collides with conflict and COVID-19.

The war in Ukraine has disrupted the global food system by sending the prices of wheat, and sunflower oil rocketing, exacerbating severe hunger crises in countries ranging from Afghanistan to Yemen to the Sahel region of Western Africa, with Save the Children staff seeing more and more children with life-threatening malnutrition.

The Horn of Africa has been crippled by drought after four consecutive failed rainy seasons with 18.4 million people facing acute food insecurity, raising fears about a repeat of 2011 when a lack of intervention led to famine in Somalia that killed 260,00 people, of whom half were children aged under five.

In parts of northern Kenya, the only water available to some families is from animal troughs, which is spreading debilitating illnesses like diarrhea through communities, severely affecting children.

Save the Children staff working in eastern Ethiopia reported increased encroachments into communities by starving wild animals, with monkeys attacking women and children they think may be carrying food or water and warthogs coming into homes.

Reports of children suffering from malnutrition in Somalia are increasing rapidly with 1.5 million children expected to be facing acute malnutrition by the end of the year, including 386,400 who are likely to be severely malnourished.

Canada’s response and calls to donate for the Humanitarian Coalition

“We are grateful for Canada’s recent commitment of $250 million in response to this escalating crisis. It’s a good start to saving lives as it will allow the humanitarian community to scale up in many of the hardest hit countries,” said Patrick Robitaille, Save the Children Canada’s Head of Humanitarian Affairs. “However, more funds from Canada will be needed in the coming months as this crisis is devastating communities and lives.”

“In Canada, Save the Children is a proud member of the Humanitarian Coalition and we are calling on the generosity of Canadians to donate at together.ca so that we can continue to reach children and families with life-saving support,” added Robitaille. “The Government of Canada will be matching all individual donations made up until July 17, so Canadians can double their donation, allowing us to support twice as many children and families at risk due to this catastrophic hunger crisis.”

Gabriella Waaijman, Save the Children’s Humanitarian Director, said:

“The worst global food crisis in decades is putting millions of children’s lives on the line. The combined impact of conflicts, climate change, COVID, and the cost of inflating food prices due to the conflict in Ukraine crisis has left up to 750,000 people facing famine conditions. A further 49 million people could soon follow unless they receive immediate support. Failure to act now will prove catastrophic and could cost thousands of lives.

“Huge progress has been made in recent decades to reduce global hunger. Countries on the frontline of the climate crisis have become increasingly resilient – new and innovate methods of managing the risk of cyclical crises, like drought, have been successful. But all countries have a limit, and for many, this has been exceeded. Progress is now being reversed.”

Save the Children’s response:

Save the Children is prioritizing providing critical support to 19 countries where extreme hunger threatens to claim thousands of children’s lives and futures over the next few months.

These countries are Afghanistan, Burkina Faso, Colombia, DRC, Ethiopia, Guatemala, Haiti, Kenya, Lebanon, Mali, Myanmar, Niger, Nigeria, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria, Venezuela, and Yemen.

Save the Children is already providing food, cash, livelihood support, and critical health and nutrition services to stop children from going hungry, either now, or in the future. The organization is also working with partners to help communities spot early warning signs for hunger drivers, so they can take the necessary steps to protect themselves and mitigate against the worst impacts.

Mthulisi Dube, a nutritionist currently working with Save the Children’s Emergency Health Unit in Turkana in Northern Kenya, said at least 229,000 children across northern Kenya are severely acutely malnourished with their lives as risk.

“There is illness everywhere, linked to hunger and thirst. I’ve heard that in some communities, the situation is so bad that after their animals starve to death, people have had to eat the putrid meat, because they have no other option for food.

“Children are drinking from drying riverbeds and wells normally reserved for livestock. They are coming down with diarrhea, which is worsening their dehydration. It’s a vicious cycle.

“We are also finding it harder and harder to treat unwell children, because families are continually on the move. We have been moving our health posts to the most remote hubs, far from major towns, where herding communities normally know where to find us, but they are five steps ahead of us –walking, looking for food and water.

“A choice between a drink of water or antibiotics is not a choice. No human should be in this position. It’s not dignified, it’s not safe, it’s wrong, and decision makers and donors need to act now to stop this situation getting any worse.”

An already critical humanitarian situation in South Sudan, the world’s youngest nation, has been further compounded by a third consecutive year of severe flooding, leaving an estimated 63% of the population – of 7.7 million people – facing high levels of acute food insecurity.

In Afghanistan, 9.6 million children are going hungry every day due to a dire combination of economic collapse, the impacts of the war in Ukraine and an ongoing drought, latest figures show.

Gabriella Waaijman said malnutrition caused by extreme hunger remains one of the biggest killers of young children globally yet it is entirely preventable.

“We are calling on donors to join us and provide additional, flexible funding to support the scale-up of urgent lifesaving services to the most at-risk communities. We know how to treat malnutrition and we know how to prevent it. All we need now is a unified global response to stop this hunger crisis in its tracks.

“Together we can also stop the risk of this deadly killer coming back in the future. We know today’s drivers of hunger require innovative, long-term solutions that build resilience and address root causes. A purely responsive system will not be able to prepare or respond to challenges in the years to come. Together, with governments, donors, partners, and communities, we must change the course of this global crisis to create a safe, happy and healthy world for our children, free from harm and hunger.”

Photo resources:

Esther, 29, and 20-month-old Susan: 

https://www.contenthubsavethechildren.org/Package/2O4C2S87HCU5

Rebekah, 35, with twins Aule and Nawei: 

https://www.contenthubsavethechildren.org/Package/2O4C2S87ZBN4