Oxfam Canada

Published purpose

(August 2011) 2011 is proving to be the driest year since 1951 in many parts of east Africa as a result of an increasingly severe drought. Successive seasons of failed rains, combined with increasing food prices, conflict, and limited humanitarian access, have resulted in food insecurity, water shortages, and acute malnutrition rates well above emergency thresholds. More than 12 million people are now in need of humanitarian assistance in Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, and Somalia. With CIDA's support, Oxfam Canada is helping to alleviate suffering, prevent loss of life and reduce the vulnerability of drought-affected pastoralist households in the Wajir district of Kenya by providing access to cash grants. This program allows beneficiary households to meet their basic life-sustaining needs and avoid reverting to negative coping strategies (including selling off vital assets, early marriage of children, and prostitution) to survive the drought.