Food crisis has many faces

Tsegaye works on his small plot of land. Despite the greenery, he is struggling to feed his family. His story is below.

For many millions of people in East Africa right now, the drought and resulting food crisis is full of the expected dry, dusty scenes.

But millions more are also facing the harsh and heartbreaking experience of 'green drought.'

The image may not match most people's perceived idea of what a drought looks like, but the life-threatening reality of malnutrition for tens of thousands of children is the same.

David Throp, Plan International's Country Director in Ethiopia, explains how 'green drought' is affecting people in the south of Ethiopia, including the Shebedino area where Plan works.

"The landscape looks lush and green, but people don't have food to eat. To outsiders it seems incredible," says Mr Throp.

"The hunger arises as a result of two factors: delayed rainfall and a shortage of land on which to grow crops. This year, the rains that allow seeds to germinate and crops to start to grow did not come. As a result, families were not able to harvest crops when they normally do.

"The later rains did arrive in some measure, but now the crops are only half-grown, and are not ready to eat until at least September. In the meantime, people are facing a serious food shortage, even though they're surrounded by greenery.

"When there's light rain, greenery will spring up out of the earth, but it's not necessarily edible. The other problem is that each family has only a very small area on which to grow crops.

"Shebedino is one of the most densely populated parts of Ethiopia. Fathers pass their land down to their children and, over the years, the available plots to produce food have been growing smaller and smaller and smaller. With the added pressures of erosion, there is never enough land to grow enough food in some areas, no matter how much rain there is."

Whether it's green drought in some parts of Ethiopia, or dry, dusty drought across the rest of the Horn of Africa, children are being affected by an extreme lack of food.

Donate now to Plan’s East Africa Drought Appeal and help us to respond to this crisis.

Support helps families cope with food shortages

"I'm called Tsegaye and I'm 25 years old. I depend on farming. I have a small plot on which I grow maize, khat* and coffee for my family. I live with my wife and two kids - one boy, one girl, aged 4 and 8. We are suffering from a real food shortage. There is not enough maize or false banana. We have too little to feed my family.

"Luckily, in my community Plan supported many families and gave us seeds, which I planted in my small piece of land. We plant haricot beans, mainly for household consumption. We mix it with false banana and make porridge. I'm very hopeful. But, we really need to change this situation for next year - by working hard together."

*Khat is a plant grown in some countries in East Africa. When the leaves are chewed, it acts as a stimulant.

Help Plan to offer support to more families such as Tsegaye’s – donate to the East Africa Drought Appeal now.