Eastern Africa is currently experiencing one of the worst droughts since the 1980s. For the third time in a row, the rainy season has failed there. The effects of the war in Ukraine are making the situation even worse.
The desk officer for Africa at KOLPING INTERNATIONAL, Mr Volker Greulich, reports in an interview with domradio: “There hasn’t been enough rain for months already, there hasn’t been enough fodder for the livestock, there isn’t enough water available and, above all, you have to expect the harvest to be very poor.” He says the situation is exacerbated because of the war in Ukraine: “We will have an enormous social and humanitarian crisis worldwide because of the Ukraine crisis. Every euro will be needed, and even what is saved now will have to be added back later. Because, if everywhere in northern Africa the price of bread goes up, then they will have riots again, then migration will increase and we are heading for a very massive crisis.”
KOLPING has done very well so far with its project approach of training farmers in alternative agriculture, Greulich reports. Farmers make their own compost, which improves the soil’s water balance. The harvest is often twice or three times more productive than it used to be. As a result, most have come through the pandemic well so far.
