Four successive years of drought have left the people of Eritrea in desperate need of international aid, with an estimated 2.3 million people, or two thirds of the entire population, requiring food assistance this year, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent warned today as it launched an appeal to bring emergency food aid and clean water to those in direst need.
The appeal, for 5.2 million Swiss francs (US$ 4.38 million or euro 3.36 million), seeks to provide food aid to 55,000 people in 17 villages in Hagaz sub-district over eight months; to provide water-trucking services to 10,000 people; build or rehabilitate water-points, boreholes and wells; to distribute seeds and farming tools to 10,000 households; and to encourage more water-efficient farming methods. The operation is implemented in coordination with the Eritrean government’s Relief and Refugee Commission.
“Our assessments have confirmed that after four consecutive years of drought, all food reserves are depleted. There is no doubt that previous Red Cross interventions have averted starvation, but another failed rainy season means the situation continues to worsen, and traditional coping mechanisms are being lost. More food relief is urgently needed,” said Sister Alganesh Kidane, Secretary General of the Red Cross of Eritrea.
Ministry of Health figures show that 50 per cent of all children are undernourished, while rates of chronic malnutrition are as high as 20 per cent in some regions. At 53 per cent, incidence of maternal malnutrition is one of the highest in the world. More than 80 per cent of the Eritrean population is dependent on agriculture, and the chronic water situation requires a more sustainable approach involving improvements to the water supply and new farming methods.
“It is vital to secure an integrated response that addresses the increasing lack of water. We can meet immediate needs with emergency relief, but reducing vulnerabilities requires longer-term solutions. We need to help communities to better manage their scarce water resources and train them in improved dry-land farming methods to prepare them for a future in which rainfall will remain low,” said Per Gunnar Jenssen, Head of the International Federation’s delegation in Asmara.
“Sudden onset disasters such as the recent tsunami understandably and rightly provoke a groundswell of sympathy and donations from the public and donors. Forgotten disasters, such as drought and hunger, often fail to get the same level of attention. But in Eritrea, just as in the tsunami-hit countries, people’s livelihoods are being destroyed, their coping mechanism eroded and their health threatened. We have a duty to improve the lives of all vulnerable people, wherever they are,” he added.