Long-term Recovery Sidelined in East Africa, Oxfam Warns

Posted: 2 May 2006

Lack of funding is threatening sustainable solutions to East Africa's food crisis, international aid agency Oxfam warned today.

According to the organization, resources are being taken from long-term projects in order to fund short-term relief. Oxfam's warning comes as the United Nations special envoy for the crisis, Kjell Bondevik, completes a four-day tour of the region.

"Emergency relief is needed now and more of it. Donors are right to make this the first priority, but there needs to be a plan to help rebuild lives as well as save them," said Paul Smith Lomas, head of Oxfam in East Africa.

“We risk getting into a pernicious cycle where money for long-term recovery is being diverted to fund emergency relief. If long-term projects are raided every time we face a crisis, the region will never progress."

“Instead of robbing Peter to pay Paul, additional funds should be made available now to support both strands," Lomas said.

Donors have funded only 27 percent of the consolidated UN appeal for Somalia launched March 21. Of that money, the vast majority goes to food aid, drinking water, and sanitation.

Despite an appeal to aid longer-term economic recovery and infrastructure to accompany the immediate needs, donors have not made a single pledge toward projects that would produce sustainable solutions.

Agricultural rehabilitation has so far received a paltry five percent of the funds requested.

While donors have met 78 percent of the food aid requirements and 64 percent of the water and sanitation needs for Ethiopia, donor governments have funded just one percent of the amount requested for longer-term assistance.

"Emergency relief is essential to save lives but we also need to be actively planning and resourcing a plan for the future," said Degan Ali, executive director of Horn Relief, an international, Somali-based partner organization of Oxfam.

"If we don't do this now, we could be stuck in crisis mode for years to come. We are working on short-term interventions and long-term plans. The donor community should follow suit."

According to Oxfam, there is an acute need to complement life-saving relief aid with structural and livelihoods programs in order to reduce herders' vulnerability to recurrent droughts and chronic food shortages. Oxfam is already working on longer-term projects such as the provision of veterinary services, improving infrastructure, and supporting livelihood diversification.

UN agencies and non-governmental organizations have been urging longer-term activities to build resilience to future shocks as a way for people in the region to escape the vicious cycle of crises.

In addition to food aid, alternative relief programs such as cash-for-work initiatives are needed. These programs are designed to bolster the local economy and improve infrastructure, thereby reducing people’s vulnerability.

By giving cash rather than food aid, the programs also maintain incentives for local business people to provide food and other materials needed in the area. However, in the current funding context, support for such projects is scarce.