WJR Monitors the East African Food Crisis

KEY FACTS

An estimated 30 million people could find themselves trapped in a position of severe food shortages

Increased global grain prices and low livestock prices have meant rural communities have been unable to afford to meet and supplement their annual food deficit.

Sadly our television screens once again show appalling images of kids starving in the Horn of Africa. Given the talk of “pending famine on a monumental scale”, WJR is continuing to monitor the situation in East Africa, to establish whether a response from the UK Jewish community could provide effective assistance.

East Africa is, of course, no stranger to drought, food shortages and even severe famine, but the challenges faced this year are more complex. Despite the FAO’s (Food and Agriculture Organisation) statement that enough food had been grown in 2007 to meet the nutritional needs of the world’s population, a combination of internal and external factors have led to the current crisis particularly in those countries of Africa where rural communities constantly live on a knife edge. Successive poor rainy seasons and high seed and fertiliser prices meant recent harvests have been limited. Increased global grain prices and low livestock prices have meant rural communities have been unable to afford to meet and supplement their annual food deficit. In Sudan and Somalia conflict has further disrupted agricultural productivity.

WJR is already active in West Sudan in response to the Darfur crisis, where the displaced population is grievously affected. Throughout the wider region an estimated 30 million people could find themselves trapped in a position of severe food shortages. Such crises force families to take tough decisions, priorities such as educating children and treating illness fall by the wayside as they struggle to provide adequate nutrition for children and adults alike.

With harvests in the Horn of Africa still months away the situation is likely to get worse before it improves. WJR is assessing how it might best engage our own community to assist local partners on the ground respond to this emerging crisis.

We will provide updates on the website as the situation develops, but for further information, please do not hesitate to contact us on 020 8736 1250.