In response to a food crisis sweeping through Africa, the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) is providing food for families in Niger, Mali, Zambia, and Kenya, who are fighting to survive in the face of hunger, suffering, and malnutrition.

An ADRA assessment team arrived in the region on Sunday, March 26, to analyze the situation, and initiate an extensive relief effort. They are currently visiting Kenya, Ethiopia, Malawi, and Zambia as well as the ADRA office for Somalia, which is also located in Kenya. The team is composed of Frank Teeuwen, bureau chief for emergency management for ADRA International, Jennifer Schmidt, bureau chief for planning for ADRA International, and Birgit Philipsen, interim ADRA director, Africa region.

"During our investigation, we will gather the necessary information that will allow us to respond adequately to the food shortages in the countries affected," said Teeuwen. "From there, we will be able to initiate new programs and new funding for programs that will enable us to meet the needs of the most vulnerable sections of the population."

The ADRA office in Niger has partnered with the "Cellule de Crise Alimentaire," the division responsible for food distribution in the office of the Prime Minister of Niger to provide for families in need. At the end of the project, ADRA had distributed almost 706 tons of food to 66,618 beneficiaries located in 43 communities in the Doutchi and Madoua districts.

ADRA International also sent two 40-foot containers of a high-protein, nutritional supplement made of a mixture of vitamin-fortified grains and legumes, to assist in the rehabilitation of malnourished children in the Filingue district of the Tillaberi Region. ADRA selected nine village communities suffering from severe child malnourishment, five of which did not have access to healthcare for severely and moderately malnourished children. ADRA then distributed an estimated 31 metric tons of this supplement to feed approximately 8,200 malnourished children during a three-month period, ending in March 2006. The project is valued at an estimated US$400,000,(=EUR 330.200).

Madame Zeinabou Mayatche of Dogondagi village said, "We are happy for the supplement introduced to us by ADRA. The food is really helping our children to grow well."

Nearly 2 million people are affected by the food crisis in Niger, in 1,800 villages located near main towns such as Agadez, Diffa, Dosso, Maradi, Tahoua, Tillaberi, and Zinder. The famine in Niger is caused by a severe drought that has destroyed crops, and livestock, leaving families battling with severe malnutrition.

In Mali, ADRA began an emergency response to improve the overall nutritional status of 31,732 vulnerable children under the age of five in the districts of Gao, Menaka and Ansongo. Also 13,325 people benefited from food for work and food for training activities. The project was funded by ADRA International.

The ADRA office in Mali also began a six-month emergency response in January of 2006 to improve the overall nutrition of 3,600 malnourished children under five in the locusts and drought affected communities in the Gao district. The project identifies children who are suffering from malnutrition and assists them, as well as supporting five health centers in the region. The project aims to correct malnutrition by weekly monitoring and providing appropriate nutritional care for each participant. It was funded by the ADRA office in Norway.

Both interventions are done in collaboration with the World Food Program (WFP), which is providing the food for distribution.

The ADRA office in Mali aims to alleviate and prevent malnutrition and hunger by targeting food aid to the Gao region, which is facing chronic food deficits, providing food for people in emergency situations to protect them from famine, providing information about the necessity of a well-balanced diet, and supporting rural development through food for work and food for training programs.

In Zambia, ADRA has partnered with the World Food Program and the Zambian Government’s Disaster Management and Mitigation Unit (DMMU) to implement two interventions to counteract the effects of the food crisis.

The two interventions are being carried out in the five worst affected districts in Zambia, Mambwe, Nyimba (Eastern province), Itezhi-tezhi, Namwala (Southern province) and Mumbwa (Central Province), and is specifically targeting the food insecure, using food as an incentive to create productive community assets. It is also providing food for those who cannot participate in the food for assets program, such as child-headed households, the elderly, and the chronically ill. It has already benefited more than 126,570 people. The second intervention is focusing on the eastern province, benefiting more than 80,000 households. Both interventions are scheduled to run until the end of April, when it is expected that the harvest for this season will be ready for consumption.

In Kenya, ADRA plans to work in the Mandera district in the North Eastern Province and Kitui district in the Eastern province of Kenya, where the effects of drought has caused suffering for approximately 3.5 million people and massive deaths among the livestock which support their livelihoods.

ADRA is providing a month’s supply of maize, beans and cooking oil for 2,500 beneficiaries as part of their initial response. ADRA is also providing water for domestic and livestock use through drilling five boreholes and equipping them with generating sets and storage tanks. This project will benefit an estimated 12,500 people, and 125,000 livestock. ADRA is also providing assorted seeds to 1,000 households for the next rainy season. The six-month project is valued at US$210,220, (=EUR 173.500) and is funded by ADRA international.

ADRA is present in 125 countries, providing community development and emergency management without regard to political or religious association, age, or ethnicity.

Additional information about ADRA can be found at www.adra.org