Millions of people in East Africa are on the brink of famine. Hundreds of millions more around the world continue to starve. In a world where there is enough food for everyone it is an outrage that people die of hunger, that governments and markets cannot make sure there is enough food available and
affordable for everyone. While governments, companies and civil society should respond to those currently facing life-threatening hunger, there is an equally important challenge to think longer term – to ensure that governments and international donors and institutions have the correct systems
and policies in place to save lives and prevent crises becoming catastrophes in the future. The brief will set out how the failure to build resilience is
resulting in a food crisis in East Africa, particularly in Ethiopia, Kenya and South Sudan. These countries have slightly different contexts, however they share a number of structural drivers. These include climate change, weak governance, lack of investment in rural development, multidimensional conflict, population displacements and migration, Covid, escalating global food prices and food insecurity due to fragile, ‘just-in- time’ global supply chains. The response to the growing crisis has been hugely inadequate – both in responding to the early warning signs and the scale and effectiveness of belated action to support those now contending with famine. Christian Aid recommends governments and others are galvanised to invest in structural changes to improve the resilience of people, governments, policies and systems. With a longer perspective and investment, those on the front line of climate change and other shocks should be able to thrive in a changing context.
