November 16, 2016
Ethiopia
Caritas CR supported by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic and The Three Kings Collection joined the world in providing humanitarian aid to Ethiopia. Caritas donated a total of 1.22 million EUR (almost 33 million CZK) to conquer famine caused by the climate change from El Niño. The aid was delivered to up to 300,000 inhabitants of several chosen areas of Ethiopia.
Over 10 million people in the country are starving due to the decreased harvest from climate changes caused mainly by El-Niño. Although the June to September rainy season helped with irrigation, some places did not have enough rain fall, whereas others were affected by torrential rain and impending floods. For example, in the north of the country, heavy rain damaged crops and forced about 10,000 households to move out temporarily.
Usually the harvest in Ethiopia starts in June, but in 2016, it was delayed until August and September in some areas of SNNPR. This interfered with the process of soil preparation and subsequent sowing. Therefore, many farmers had to sow other crops with shorter vegetation cycle and smaller yields – for example vetch, chick peas, some species of wheat or teff (African cereals also know as Williams love grass). The households are also affected by their reduced livestock which is made worse by the mass dying of the animals due to the droughts.
In helping the Ethiopians affected by famine, Caritas CR focused on the district of Kacha Bira in SNNPR where we distributed 269 quintals (metric tons) of various kinds of cereals and 50 kg of fodder in 2016. We also donated more than 120 quintals (metric tons) of Famix (supplementary food for undernourished children) and 1,485 litres of edible oil to the Catholic Church in the city of Harar. In some dioceses we donated 480 sheep and goats and helped the locals construct 6 new wells.
By January 2017, as part of the joint world programme, Caritas would like to decrease the number of people dependent on humanitarian aid to 9.7 million people from the original 10.2 million (i.e. by 500,000 people).
The Activities of Caritas CR in Ensuring Food Security and Reducing the Number of Cases of Acute Malnutrition in the Kachabira woreda, Ethiopia was supported financially by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic and by the Three Kings Collection.
