As emergency appeals get underway for people in the East and Horn of Africa, development workers plead for a more permanent solution. A ’toxic mix’ of drought, failed harvests and rising food prices have brought severe food shortages to the East and the Horn of Africa and the UN office for the co-ordination of humanitarian affairs predicts that 10 million people in parts of Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Uganda and Djibouti will face chronic shortages and be in need of humanitarian assistance. However short-term emergency relief work has to be backed up with long-term strategies to enable people in these regions to cope when disasters such as drought and failed harvests occur, says Nigel Harris, CEO of the NGO Farm-Africa.
Pray: for God to break this drought crisis with rain, and for NGOs to develop longer-term partnerships and strategies as well as short -term solutions to climate anomalies. (Dt.11:14-15 & Job 5:10)