The American Red Cross Responds to Southern African Famine Threat

Hungry people in Malawi line up to register with the Malawi Red Cross for Red Cross food distribution program.

Crisis Situation
Millions of people face hunger and even death by starvation in Southern Africa. The worst drought in a decade, coupled with the devastating socioeconomic impact of AIDS, has caused drastic food shortages. Crops have dried-up in the fields and desperate families are selling all they have, including precious livestock, to buy food. Prices for the dwindling supply of available food in the market have soared.. This agricultural, social and economic disaster is affecting more than 14.6 million people in Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Thousands have already died and those weakened by hunger are increasingly susceptible to disease.

Particularly hard-hit have been the poorest and most vulnerable, especially the elderly, children, AIDS affected orphans and chronically ill, and pregnant and nursing women. To compound the disaster, the HIV/AIDS pandemic has ravaged these communities, affecting many of the people who ordinarily would have been the most economically productive. Southern Africa has the highest HIV/AIDS prevalence rates in the world. In some countries, more than 30 percent of the adult population is infected. HIV/AIDS impacts food security and nutrition in many ways. Young and strong people fall ill and are unable to farm or earn wages. Family members are pulled away from income generating and farming activities as they care for people with the disease. Parents die leaving orphans to be supported by extended families, often grandparents, creating a situation where there are many mouths to feed and fewer wage earners. Click here to read stories about people in the affected countries.

The American Red Cross Response
The American Red Cross is currently focusing its efforts on Malawi, one of the most severely affected countries, by:

• Providing food to 125,000 of the most vulnerable in five hard-to-reach, remote districts.
• Implementing HIV/AIDS programs in prevention, home-based care and support to orphans
• Distributing agricultural tools, seeds and fertilizer in three districts so that people can begin growing food crops;

Planned activities include:

• Improving water and sanitation facilities in poor, rural areas so that people have safe drinking water and the threat of widespread disease such as cholera is reduced;
• Providing supplementary food to the severely malnourished and families supporting chronically ill individuals and orphans;
• Supporting the $61.9 million appeal of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (Federation).

In supporting the Federation's appeal, which aims to reach approximately 11 million beneficiaries for 12 months, the American Red Cross has positioned a logistics delegate to help with the food and seed distributions and to give water and sanitation technical assistance. Federation actions include:

• Supplying the World Food Programme with a transport package to help deliver 1 million metric tons of food aid to more than 10 million people in six countries. A fleet of 241 trucks has arrived in Southern Africa;
• Providing relief and humanitarian assistance to 750,000 HIV/AIDS affected beneficiaries;
• Distributing 61,213 metric tons of food as well as medical supplies and hygiene necessities throughout five countries;
• Distributing seeds, tools and fertilizers to subsistence farmers to help people to begin producing their own food;
• Financing improvements to water and sanitation facilities so that safe drinking water is available, preventing the spread of disease.

How You Can Help
To assist the people of Southern Africa, the American Red Cross needs additional financial assistance to expand its emergency food distributions and long-term recovery program. It will concentrate on building the capacity of Red Cross societies and branches to help local people to get the food and safe water they need to survive and assist them in finding lasting solutions to the problems of hunger and poverty.

You can help those affected by this crisis and countless others around the world each year by making a financial gift to the American Red Cross International Response Fund, which will provide immediate and long-term support through supplies, technical assistance, and other support to those in need. Call 1-800-HELP NOW or 1-800-257-7575 (Spanish). Donations can also be mailed to your local Red Cross chapter or to the American Red Cross, P.O. Box 37243, Washington, DC 20013.

Or make secure online credit card donation by visiting our online donation form.

Read more stories about people in the affected countries:

• 09/27/02 - Hunger and death visit the kingdom of Swaziland
• 09/12/02 - The Red Cross food fleet in place in Malawi
• 08/05/02 - Malawi: Feeding the most vulnerable

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