Through the years WCF donors have supplied emergency food relief to regions in Africa suffering from food insecurity fueled by drought and famine. Eastern Africa has suffered through numerous droughts during the last several years. These ravaging droughts have been exacerbated by the global rise in food prices, higher costs of fuel and supply chain disruptions. People, livestock and herds of animals are dying throughout the horn of Africa in Ethiopia, northern Kenya and Somalia. Children are the most vulnerable as their weak bodies are unable to fight off opportunistic diseases.

World Children's Fund has delivered food relief and aid in these emergencies and has intervened to help support the overwhelming number of refugees from Somalia who are fleeing into neighboring Kenya in search of food and water.

As scores of Somali refugees pour into Kenya, overcrowding and famine conditions push destitute families into informal settlements and encampments. Our Kenya based team has supplied nutritious food to these families in distress in geographic locations hit hard, like Garissa, in northeastern Kenya, located near the Somalia border. The effects of severe drought are evident. It is hot and dry. Carcasses of goats, cows, and camels litter the dusty roads. The riverbeds are empty. From the air, the dried-out river tributaries look like brown snakes winding their way through the arid land.

The large boxes of meals distributed by WCF to families living in the settlements are filled with small, individual pouches of food. The meals are comprised of rice and soy nuggets for protein, vitamins, minerals and dehydrated vegetables. The meal formula is specifically designed to save the lives of severely malnourished and starving children. The ingredients also improve the health, growth and physical well-being of children and adults who are no longer in immediate danger of starvation. WCF has also supported a daily feeding programme for school children in Garissa to help ease the strain on limited resources and provide nutritious meals to hungry children.

The need for food in this region has never been greater - neither has the need for generosity. WCF is grateful for all our committed donors who have partnered with us to serve the hungry in times of famine. Because of your support, we have delivered boxes of hope to starving children and their families who are displaced by drought, and we have been able to serve the local children who would otherwise have no consistent source of food for survival.