It is heartbreaking to see the plight of a mother forced to choose between saving the life of her malnourished child and protecting her family’s livelihood. Please watch her sad news story here (Trigger Warning, this video is depressing). She does not have to choose between one or the other. You can help her choose both as well as the planet through this GoFundMe link.
A looming Famine
Climate change is robbing Ethiopian pastoralists of their lifestyle and livelihood, which is heavily dependent on livestock herding. A trifecta of climatic-induced shocks—drought, flooding, and extremely warm air temperatures—persistent conflicts and war, and global inflation foreshadow looming famine. According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) report, more than 20 million Ethiopians need urgent lifesaving assistance.
Overall, 16 million drought-affected people nationwide will require multi-sector lifesaving assistance for the rest of the year. More than 3.5 million livestock are estimated to have died and at least 25 million weakened and emaciated livestock are estimated to be at risk - livestock is the main source of nutrition, notably for children, and the main source of income for pastoralist communities. Malnutrition rates are expected to further increase given the highly alarming level of livestock deaths.
Ethiopia, one of the world's most drought-porn countries, become accustomed to recurrent episodes of famine at least once every decade. In 1984, Ethiopia’s worst humanitarian disaster of the 20th century claimed the lives of more than one million people. As this situation is not dire enough, insecurity caused by communal conflicts and the full-fledged war raging in the north of the country between the federal government and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) is hindering humanitarian response. Russia’s invasion also sent global food and fuel prices soaring, making aid delivery more expensive.
In southern and southeastern Ethiopia, the situation is devastating. More than 8 million pastoralists and agro-pastoralists need humanitarian food assistance while 4.4 million people need water assistance. UNICEF estimated 600,000 severely malnourished children require urgent lifesaving treatment. According to the Famine Early Warning System Network (FEWS NET)/United States Geological Survey (USGS):
(A)n estimated 2.1 to 2.5 million livestock have died between late 2021 and mid-May 2022, according to regional and zonal government figures, and herd sizes are likely to decline further given very limited livestock births this season and high offtake expected during the upcoming dry season.
While the Gu rainy season (March-April-May 2022) has improved somewhat the drought conditions, the recorded rainfall deficits was the worst in the past 70 years. Four consecutive below-average rainfall seasons debilitated posture and water in the Horn Africa region. According to the Columbia Climate School (IRI),
A large majority of the models in the plume predict SSTs to remain below-normal at the level of a La Niña until at least Dec-Feb 2023. Similar to the most-recent official CPC ENSO Outlook issued on September 08, 2022, the objective model-based ENSO outlook forecasts a continuation of the La Niña event with high probability during boreal fall and moderate probability values during winter. ENSO-neutral becomes the most likely category in Jan-Mar 2023 onward.
Hydroponics Fodder System
The Somali region, one of the poorest regions in Ethiopia, is in midst of the worst drought in 40 years. In the first half of 2022, 1.5 million livestock perished while the remaining herds are too weak and emaciated to produce little or no milk, the main source of nutrition for children. More than half of its population are in dire need urgent humanitarian aid, and more than one million destitute people are in 430 internally displaced camps.
Civic Space Institute (CSI) has launched a fundraising campaign for a scalable pilot project aimed at climate change adaptation capacity building for pastoral families in Somali region of Ethiopia. Our goal is to support 100 female heads of household impacted by the climate change-induced catastrophic. The Hydroponics fodder system will enable women to provide daily fresh produce for their children and green healthy fodder for her animals through a simple homemade, eco-friendly hydroponics system.
Hydroponics uses less water; does not need soil, fertilizer, and pesticides to grow. It is also environmentally friendly than traditional agriculture as it emits no greenhouse gases. Your donation will directly support her with the cost of:
Hydroponic farming is a sustainable and adaptable method to combat the impacts of climate change on pastoral families. All donated funds will go towards supplies for a homemade hydroponic farming kit for each family. This highly effective and low-cost technology will help families grow fresh produce for their children and fodder for their animals year-round.
With your generous support
Your one-time $250 donations will enable her to provide daily fresh produce for children and green grass for her animals through a simple homemade, eco-friendly hydroponic system. Hydroponic uses less water, does not need soil, fertilizer, and pesticides to grow, and is more environmentally friendly than traditional agriculture as it emits no greenhouse gas emissions.
Your donation will directly support her with the cost of building a small patio structure and 20 fodder trays made of wood sticks and plastic sheets: and the purchase of 110 pounds of seeds, and 50 gallons of water. Our goal is to support 100 female heads of households to achieve sustainable livelihood adaptation to climate change.
A $25 monthly donation will support her to purchase seeds and water. Each pound of seeds sprayed with one liter of water to produce 6-9 pounds of nutritious fodder in a week; year-round rain or shine. Twenty trays produce 120-180 pounds of fodder a week, which is enough to feed 20 dairy goats for two days.
The ripple effect of your generosity goes farther than simply supplying families with a hydroponics system. You are impacting the community’s life in every way:
- Reduction of waterborne and milk-borne infections.
- Income generating opportunities for families through increased dairy production.
- Education opportunities for children, especially girls.
- Afford girls and women with the opportunity to contribute positively to their community.
Thank you in advance for donating whatever you can, however large or small, makes all the difference. Please give what you can today. Please also share the link with your friends and family.
Civic Space Institute is a nonprofit organization exempt from federal income taxation under IRC 501(c)(3). CSI guarantees that 100 % of your donation will go towards purchasing seeds and water for her. CSI is both GoFundMe and PayPal verified organizations. Your generous donations are tax-deductible in the United States.