Food Security in East Africa

The Horn of Africa drought raises worldwide awareness of an urgent and growing crisis. However, food security is a pre-existing and chronic issue for East African countries overall – and it is growing more severe each year.

Food security refers to the availability of food and people’s access to it.

It is the lack of income, not necessarily the scarcity of food, which is the real crux of the food insecurity problem.  This year – due largely to rising food prices driven by increased fuel and transportation costs, the lingering effects of worldwide recession, and climate change that has seriously disrupted the planting and harvesting seasons – the problem is reaching emergency levels.

Your support to help vulnerable children and families in East Africa move from poverty to sustainable self-sufficiency is needed now more than ever.

You can make a significant and long-term contribution to reduce poverty and hunger for thousands of children in CFTC’s donor communities in Uganda and Ethiopia by supporting income generation, education, nutrition, health, water and sanitation projects that have an immediate and lasting effect.

Income generation/livelihoods

Goats Provide Good Livelihoods in Gelan Gura village, EthiopiaGive parents and guardians a sustainable source of income, and you feed their children and their children’s children, too.

Income generation is the primary, long-term strategy for increasing food security for thousands of families throughout East Africa.

Contribute to a livelihood project today, and you’ll help provide:

  • Training in modern agricultural methods
  • Fruit, flower and vegetable seeds and farm management training, including compost training
  • Livestock care and farm management vocational training
  • Sheep, goats, poultry and pigs for family and community farms
  • Livestock pens, fencing and training in livestock management
  • Alternate energy projects for safe and efficient cooking
  • Seeds and farm tools for family and community gardens
  • Construction of centralized food storage and selling containers for sale of produce
  • Post-harvest storage, distribution and marketing training
  • Leadership, financial and business education to establish and run small businesses
  • Registration, training and support for self-help groups (community credit agencies)

Education

Education multiples children's potential exponentially.Education is a critical building block to reduce the extreme poverty that fuels food insecurity.  Literacy and numeracy gives children and adults the ability to embark on an income-generating activity, the option of securing a job and the capacity to create change in their communities. Community-based initiatives that raise awareness of the value of education – especially for girls – increase human potential in the long-run.

Your help today will support projects that include:

  • Classroom and school construction
  • Teacher training
  • School-based latrines and water sources for good hygiene
  • School fees, mandatory school uniforms, school desks, textbooks, school supplies
  • Adult literacy and numeracy training
  • Parenting programs for parents/guardians
  • Girls’ rights community education (raising awareness of the value of education for girls)

Nutrition

In-school feeding programs provide children with one meal a day - one more than they often receive.Feeding programs, in-school meals, and nutritional supplements provide emergency and urgent relief for children suffering from or at risk of malnutrition. Nutritional supplements are also critical for HIV/AIDS-infected individuals to maintain treatment regimens. Nutritional monitoring helps vulnerable children and families now and ensures that healthy weights are attained and maintained in the future.

Your gift of good nutrition will be directed toward:

  • High nutrient supplements for children who are or are at risk of suffering from malnutrition
  • In-school meal programs
  • Nutritional counselling for HIV/AIDS-affected families
  • Nutritional supplements for HIV/AIDS-affected adults and children (instant soya, soya flour and milk)
  • Emergency feeding programs for severely malnourished children
  • Family food baskets of nutrient-fortified cereal, vegetable oil and a legume
  • Clinic-based nutrition education sessions for parents; nutrition assessment and follow-up care for children

Health / Water / Sanitation

Ugandan boy enjoys fresh, clean water from a community water source.Primary medical care, home-based support for HIV/AIDS-affected families, and water/sanitation projects that improve hygiene and reduce communicable and water-borne diseases empower people with the resilience and resources to maintain good health.

Donate now to improve vulnerable children’s health through:

  • Water harvesting, sanitation and latrine facilities for communities
  • In-school latrines and water sources for school children
  • Water purification tablets, water containers, water storage systems
  • Water wells, family cisterns
  • Sanitation and hygiene classes, community education

Thank you for your support!

If you would like to make a more significant gift to support food security in East Africa, please contact:

Cheryl Weldon, Leadership and Legacy Giving Manager
416-757-1220 ext 227 | cweldon@CanadianFeedTheChildren.ca