East Africa Crisis: Hunger as livestock lost to drought and cattle raiders
East Africa is facing one of the most severe droughts in its history, and older people have told us that they are struggling to survive. Age International is raising funds with its East Africa Appeal so that older people like Nainet and Lodee can get the help they need to survive the loss of their cattle and crops.
Many older people in East Africa rely on farming livestock as part of the traditional lifestyle, moving with the seasons to find suitable food and water for their animals, but the recent persistent lack of rainfall means that the water holes have dried up and crops and vegetation have dried up.
The older people we spoke to in South Sudan told us that cattle raiding had increased in the area because rural farmers resort to leading their livestock further and further away in search of water and pasture.
With our East Africa Appeal, we hope to raise funds for and awareness of the plight of older people like them who are hungry and desperate.
Lodee, 70, lives in Nadapalit village in South Sudan with his wife, children and grandchildren. He has problems with his vision and struggles to walk. 60 of his cows were stolen by cattle raiders in December 2021 and the rest he lost to the drought.
“It is really difficult to describe the problems with the last harvest. We harvested nothing from our fields. It was a terrible misery and drought. There is no food. We’ve only got a bit of sorghum left; it’s more or less finished. My grandchildren go to the bush to find firewood to sell and they look for wild fruits. That’s how we survive. I have sleepless nights. I worry much about my fragile health… well I am enduring it! I wish the next generation will not experience the disaster that we are experiencing now.”
Nainet is 80 and lives in Chumakori payam with her five grandchildren. She has also lost cattle due to cattle raiders and the drought.
“I only have 3 cows left. All the crops that I planted have dried up. We don’t have enough food, we eat once a day and sometimes not even that. We get our water from the stream which is far away. I don’t have much hope for the future as I am very old now and my grandchildren are not studying. I think a lot about what I have lost and how I am now helpless. It’s very worrying.”
With our partner in the region, HDC, we are giving older people in South Sudan emergency food parcels and food vouchers. We're also providing seeds and livestock so that older people who have lost everything can start again.
Learn more about our response to the drought in Ethiopia and South Sudan:
East Africa Appeal
East Africa is experiencing its worst drought in decades and more than 20 million people are on the verge of starvation. Please help to provide lifesaving support to older people and their families.
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