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Oxfam's response to the current crisis in East Africa is to meet the urgent needs, in ways that also give people and communities the keys to recovery.
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Situation
IFor instance, in Ethiopia four successive seasons of poor rains have left the country badly affected, resulting in harvest failure, deteriorating livestock health, and water shortages. In the worst-affected Somali Region of Ethiopia, many pastoralists have already lost most or all of their livestock to the drought. This means taking away a family's source of milk, meat, and their livelihood. In some areas 75% of families are estimated to be destitute, and nationally approximately 6.2 million people are at risk of severe hunger. Oxfam's response is to meet these urgent needs, in ways that also give people and communities the keys to recovery. In the hardest-hit Somali Region of Ethiopia, Oxfam is supporting 70,000 pastoralists. Their animals are their livelihoods. These wonderful people are now facing the heart-breaking dilemma : slaughter their remaining animals now and get some money to buy vital food, or wait with the very real possibility that their animals will die anyway. Oxfam's project supports the pastoralists by helping them keep two breeding animals (such as goats) alive, so that children can have milk, and the family's herd can recover in time. Oxfam is also organising projects - like digging wells, and re-seeding pastures - to make the communities better able to cope with future droughts. Oxfam is paying the pastoralists to do this work which allows them to buy the vital food and supplies they need now to survive. A win-win scenario, which helps families through the current food crisis, improves their ability to survive future droughts, and gives Ethiopian people dignity and hope in this crisis.