Mar 2023-Feb 2024

Fighting Hunger in the Horn of Africa

©WFP/Alessandro Abbonizio

2014-2024

WORLD FOOD PROGRAMME

The World Food Programme (WFP) is the world’s largest humanitarian agency dedicated to fighting hunger. In 2023, it reached 152 million people in over 120 countries and territories. We supported WFP’s school meals programmes across Africa and the Middle East between 2014 and 2021. In Mozambique, where we’ve supported WFP since 2014, we contributed to the establishment of a nationally owned school meals programme for all pre-primary and primary schools in the country and, since 2017, we’ve helped pilot post-harvest-loss solutions for smallholder farmers. In 2022 and 2023, we funded food and nutrition assistance for WFP programs in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and the Horn of Africa. Today, we’re helping WFP provide critical aid to communities in need across North Africa and the Middle East.

www.wfp.org

CHALLENGE

The Horn of Africa is struggling with its longest and most severe drought in 40 years, caused by five consecutive failed rainy seasons. The loss of livestock and eroded livelihoods in pastoral communities means that 22 million people are currently facing severe hunger and over 5 million children are acutely malnourished in the region.

ACTION

Working with partners on the ground, WFP delivered life-saving help to local communities, refugees, and internally displaced people across the region, with a focus on new arrivals. The assistance provided ranged from food and cash support to school meal activities. WFP also promoted resilience-building initiatives for smallholder farmers, such as building irrigation canals and culverts, establishing community and household gardens, providing seeds and fertilizers, and triggering anticipatory financing to help farmers prepare for future climate hazards before they result in disaster.

Our funds specifically supported WFP’s response in Kenya – where 4.4 million individuals experienced acute food insecurity and approximately 1.1 million women and children faced acute malnutrition – and Djibouti – where the 2023 drought had detrimental effects on vegetable production and water availability.

In Kenya, specialised nutritious foods ensured over 380,000 children and mothers living in Dadaab and Kakuma refugee camps and the Kalobeyei settlement received essential nutrients, curbing tragic mortality rates and achieving 84% recovery rate for children suffering from Moderate Acute Malnutrition.

In Djibouti, our contribution supported WFP’s efforts to empower 125,000 vulnerable individuals with choice through cash-based transfers, enabling them to meet their food and nutrition needs.