Drought hits East Africa

Ethiopia and Uganda among countries struck by drought in East Africa

Fields have been ravished by severe droughts.

Credit: WaterAid/Marco Betti

23 October 2009

As you may have seen in the news, there are currently severe droughts across East Africa.

The worst affected countries are Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and Somalia.

More than 23 million people are affected by the droughts, which are a result of prolonged failing rains. A humanitarian crisis is being caused by loss of crops, causing food shortages, severe hunger and in some areas emergency levels of malnutrition.

Of the affected countries, WaterAid works in Ethiopia, Uganda and Tanzania. The impact of the drought means that some areas are suffering food shortages, and people are having to travel further for scarcer water supplies.

In Ethiopia, affected communities are facing food shortages and loss of income as their crops are dying. In some places, wells and water sources are starting to run dry. Many people are leaving the affected areas.

In Uganda, while rains have now started in most areas, the impact of recent poor harvests and a prolonged dry spell has led to ongoing food shortages and financial hardship.

Jane Scobie, Regional Programme Officer for East Africa, said:

"Understandably people are prioritising finding and paying for food rather than continuing to contribute to the operation and maintenance of the local wells.  The local governments are also prioritising food provision and as a result, the long term sustainability of water and sanitation facilities could be affected."

Our team here is putting plans in place to ensure the sustainability of water resources once the situation is more stable.

To date, the drought in Tanzania has not affected the areas that WaterAid and partner organisations are working in.

WaterAid country programmes are continuously monitoring the situation on the ground and are in discussion with partners regarding interventions to provide support in the affected areas.

Although WaterAid is not an emergency/disaster relief agency, where we can usefully assist the relief effort, either through supporting the work of the national authorities or international disaster relief agencies in the area, we will do so.

We remain committed to carrying out long-term projects to strengthen people’s ability to cope with future shocks and disaster preparedness, for which we always require ongoing donations and funding.

For more information:

• Please contact Ann Noon, Media Relations Manager: annnoon@wateraid.org or call +44(0)20 7793 4790.

Notes to Editor:

• WaterAid works in 17 countries in Africa, Asia and the Pacific
• At least 4000 children die every day as a result of diseases caused by unclean water and poor sanitation
• 884 million people in the world do not have access to safe water. This is roughly one in eight of the world's population
• 2.5 billion people in the world do not have access to adequate sanitation, this is almost two fifths of the world's population
• Just £15 can enable one person to access safe water, improved hygiene and sanitation
• More statistics are avaible here