Even before the invasion of Ukraine, many of the poorest nations of the world were suffering the catastrophic impact of climate change.
Earlier this year the island of Madagascar, for example, experienced its ‘worst drought’ in 40 years. UNICEF says half a million under-fives will be ‘acutely malnourished’ this year; in the south, where 80% of the people depend on agriculture to survive, the UN World Food Programme estimates that half of the population now faces hunger. The drought has decimated crops and dried up water sources, resulting in little sustenance for communities and cattle. The pandemic, deforestation and Madagascar’s cyclone season have further exacerbated their woes. According to UNWFP, this could become ‘the first famine to be caused by climate change’.
Then came Vladimir Putin. In June, the World Food Programme (WFP) announced that drastic cuts to food aid there would put an additional 1.7 million people at risk of starvation, as the Ukrainian conflict sucks funding from global aid budgets.
Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF) is one of many Christian organisations seeking to provide aid in these very challenging circumstances. Speaking exclusively to Evangelicals Now, Head of Communications, Vivienne Pattison, commented: ‘As part of the NGO forum in South Sudan, which comprises stakeholders including 520 NGOs, the local government and the UN to provide assistance to the people of South Sudan, MAF believes that any cuts to funding will cost lives and undermine progress made over many years.
‘In the last six weeks alone, MAF has flown 3,710kg of relief and development freight in South Sudan – and every set of aid cuts puts pressure on local humanitarian specialists who have committed to long-term development projects and fly regularly with MAF. It is a tragedy that now more than 6 million people are acutely insecure in South Sudan due in part to the Ukraine crisis.
‘Other pressures include rising fuel prices, which are having a knock-on effect on many low-income communities and may risk lives in remote areas. MAF can confirm that the cost of both AvGas and Jet Fuel have increased by as much as 30% in some countries where MAF operates.’
World Vision paints a similar picture in Somalia. Senior Communications Manager, Lucy Murunga, said: ‘The country now faces catastrophic food shortages, driven largely by the war in Ukraine – nearly all the wheat sold in Somalia usually comes from Ukraine and Russia. The country is already experiencing a devastating climate-fuelled drought – little to no rains between April and June have made this season among the top three driest on record.’
With high chances of crop and livestock losses amid soaring food prices and lack of food aid, millions of Somalis are bracing themselves for extreme food insecurity and widespread hunger.
Faced with depleted means of livelihoods, hundreds of thousands are migrating into urban areas, most ending up in settlements for internally displaced people (IDP).
One case study eloquently makes the point. 30-year-old Hawa, her husband Mohamed and their children have been living in an IDP settlement in Baidoa town (southern Somalia) for the last six months. They moved from a village nearly 70km away, after all the sorghum and maize they planted last season was lost to the drought. Left with nothing to survive on, they had to leave and don’t know if or when they’ll be able to return home.
They now live in a basic, makeshift shelter, and food is still hard to come by. Her children are often forced to eat boiled wild fruits, as it’s all Hawa can find.
‘It’s difficult when they begin to cry and I have no food to give them,’ she says. ‘When the children are hungry, they will start crying, asking for food, and will not stop. When I have water, I give it to them to stop them crying, but it will be for a moment before they start again, demanding food.’
In partnership with the World Food Programme, World Vision is reaching nearly 19,000 households across 91 IDP sites in Baidoa, some with food vouchers and others with cash assistance to help them meet their food needs.
Tear Fund highlights other issues compounding the existing problems across East Africa. Elizabeth Myendo said: ‘In addition to the climate crisis, the region has faced Covid-19, locust swarms, conflict and even flash flooding – where rains do come, the ground is so hard from the drought that the earth cannot absorb it.
‘Women and girls are facing the terrible brunt of this crisis. They face longer, more dangerous journeys to find water or food and increased violence. The number of child marriages is more than doubling, as parents are forced to make heartbreaking decisions to keep their children alive.’
