Telling the ECSA Story

  Zambia. CARE As the conflict in Ukraine continues, the shock waves are being felt all the way in Southern Africa which is still reeling from one of the worst cyclone seasons. From a shortage of relief supplies to hiked fuel costs, communities that were slowly recovering from the loss of livelihoods and floods now face another challenge as the cost of living increases. This has impacted response efforts and raises the worry of how the people will recover and resume normal living as things become more expensive. Hiked wheat and fuel costs are not only causing an increase in the cost of living but also putting the jobs of hundreds, in several sectors, at risk. In Zambia and Zimbabwe, where the economies were already fragile, fuel prices have increased by 13 percent and 7 percent respectively in Countries. On March 11th, Cyclone Gombe, a Category 3 storm struck Nampula province in Mozambique. So far, 61 fatalities have been recorded with over 450,000 people displaced. As humanitarian...

As the conflict in Ukraine continues, hundreds of kilometers away, communities in Africa are feeling the ripple effects. Across the East, Central, and Southern Africa Region, ordinary citizens are experiencing the initial effects even as indicators, and analysts, point to even more adverse repercussions hitting the region within the next six months. In Kenya, citizens took to social media, under the hashtag #LowerFoodPrices, to vent their frustrations. In response to this, the government reverted indicating that the rising cost was a result of the conflict. While in DRC, inflation of oil, petrol, and gas prices has led to an increase in transport costs for both people and foodstuffs and this threatens CARE’s ongoing projects if the conflict is long-drawn-out. Somalia is currently in the grips of a worsening drought and the conflict in Ukraine makes the situation even more direr. The price of wheat and oil has already risen by 300%. Iman Abdullahi, CARE Somalia Country Director said, “O...

  Mary Athou, 45 “Agriculture is one of the ways to empower women at the grassroots level because it does not need one to write but dig with the skills they acquire from different organizations,”  says Mary Athou, 45. Her words may sound simple but are powerful and carry a lot of weight.   This words come from a place of disappointment due to gender inequality that is triggered by cultural norms. This gender inequality has for years deprived girls and women of their right to attain an education making women lag. The mother of five, who is the bread winner of her family, depends purely on agriculture as her source of income. Mary in her farm She recalls that during her childhood, growing up was not easy. “As a woman in my community, we had limited opportunities which made life quite challenging but am glad that a lot has changed today because Organizations like CARE are here, not only to provide help, but build resilience and make us self-reliant.” she says. Mary is a FEED...

In Ghana, they call them “market queens”—women traders who have the connections and influence to organize women, adjust market prices, and influence trading patterns in their area. Faced with government shutdowns in local markets to stop the spread of COVID19, these women found ways to organize social distancing and  keep the markets open so people could eat. By the end of 2020, the World Food Programme predicts that  265 million people will be facing starvation  because of COVID19. CARE’s research shows a similar jump in hunger: in  Bangladesh , 70% of women are worried that they can’t buy nutritious and diverse diets for their children. In  Jordan’s Azraq camp , 50% of people are reporting food shortages—and 90% of women say food is their biggest need right now. For  women, the picture is worse —women already make up 60% of the world’s hungry people, and are the  first to lose their incomes and market access  in a crisis. But as always, wo...

I lost three of my brothers during the cyclone last year. It was a Thursday. I was living with them and my oldest brother on the outskirts of Beira, who supported me so that I was able to go to school. My teacher that morning said that a big storm was coming but we didn’t believe him at first because we saw no signs. But in the evening I woke up from the noise of the wind. It was so strong, it blew our roof away. I was very scared. A big tree in front of our house fell against our wall and my brothers rushed to the cabinets resting against that wall to take out bags and folders with important certificates and documents. That’s when the whole wall collapsed on them. One of the stones hit my head. I still remember seeing the cracks in the wall moments before my brothers were buried in  the rubble. One of my brothers was still breathing and we tried to save him. We called the police and they took him to the hospital. But just minutes later we received a call saying that he didn’t...