After the launching of the campaign, spontaneous initiatives sprang up across the world in schools, colleges and community groups. There were vigils for the hungry, fund-raising events and letters sent to national governments urging action.

This page highlights the African countries which are currently suffering exceptional food shortages. A special 'Africa Hunger Alert' bulletin board will keep you up-to-date on the campaign's progress.

ANGOLA

Since the April 2002 peace agreement finally brought a halt to Angola's almost three decade-long civil conflict, humanitarianorganisations have gained access to hundreds of thousands of malnourished people, who have been hiding in the countryside for the past years, beyond the reach of aid groups.

WFP's life-saving operations in the country have expanded rapidly to meet the extra needs. The Agency now feeds up to 1.8 million Angolans - an 80 percent increase compared to 2002.

WFP food aid is playing a vital role in the consolidation of Angola's peace process. Resettling IDPs, demobilized Unita soldiers and refugees returning from neighbouring countries all receive food aid to help rebuild their lives.

In addition to the emergency food aid, there is a progressive increase in rehabilitation projects, such as Food-for-Work, a tool that gives people access to productive activities while working on behalf of their community in various sectors, such as education, health, agriculture and infra-structure.

BURUNDI

The food and general humanitarian situation continues to deteriorate in Burundi, where more than one million people are in need of relief food due to a lack of rain, and prevailing insecurity.

Recent crop assessments indicated that the number of people in need of relief food during the first six months of the year has doubled compared to the same period in 2002. At the same time, the nutritional condition of the population has declined, with a marked increase in the number of children being admitted to therapeutic feeding centres in various parts of the country.

Slow response to the food aid needs has meant that in-country food stocks are very limited. With insecurity cutting off large segments of the population from humanitarian assistance, the situation is dire.

Following a peace agreement signed by the Government and rebel forces in December 2002, a transitional government with a new President will take place on 1 May 2003. .

DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO

After four years of complex and devastating conflict, positive developments towards peace in DR Congo have helped stabilise the humanitarian crisis and curb astronomical death rates.

Peace talks in South Africa have led to the withdrawal of most foreign forces, and have provided a framework for implementing a peace accord as well as a government of reconciliation.
The UN military observer mission (MONUC) has started the long awaited disarmament programme for foreign soldiers.

However, although the guns have fallen silent, more than half the people of DRC are still fighting for survival.

The economic devastation resulting from the war has led to high malnutrition rates among internally displaced people (IDPs), refugees, children and the elderly. WFP is trying to feed 1.1 million people with urgent food aid.

For four years, hundreds of thousands of these people have sought refuge from fighting in the bush and have been beyond the reach of humanitarian help. Today, they are emerging from their hiding places.

Humanitarian organisations are working to feed the hungry, accompanying IDPs and refugees back to their villages and helping them to rebuild their lives. A more secure environment is helping access many pockets of isolated communities, but countless others remain cut off.

The peace process is presenting humanitarian aid workers with a window of opportunity to reach these hungry people - if the international community provides the resources.

ERITREA

Eritrea is facing its worst crop failure since independence in 1993. A prolonged drought has seriously affected food production, and has left up to 1.4 million people - almost half of the total population of 3.3 million - with little or no food until the next expected harvest in November 2003.

Rainfall has been poor since October 2001, with the almost total failure of the March-June azmera rains and the late onset of June-September kremti rains, threatening the food security of thousands of farmers and pastoralists who make up most of the country's workforce.

The regions worst hit by drought and food shortages are the Northern Red Sea, Southern Red Sea and many parts of Anseba.

The 2002 harvest was 54,000 metric tons, about 20 percent of a normal harvest and only enough to cover 10 percent of Eritrea's national food requirement.

The Government appealed in November 2002 for a total of 477,000 tonnes of food aid for 2003. International response so far has been very limited.

To assist some 900,000 of the most vulnerable people affected by drought, WFP is trying to raise US$100 million for 2003, of which only 25 percent has been received. The number of people WFP can target with this limited amount of food has been slashed in half, to 450,000 - and food rations to these people have been reduced to 60 percent.

WFP is also trying to feed an additional 500,000 people, comprising those displaced by the war, refugees who have returned from Sudan, school children and other vulnerable groups. Funding shortfalls have also caused food aid ration cuts.

Eritrea is still recovering from a devastating border war with neighbouring Ethiopia. A large number of people, including farmers, are still displaced and thousands of soldiers have yet to be demobilized. The continuing resettlement of Eritrean refugees returning from Sudan is an extra strain on the country's resources.

Unexploded landmines, another legacy of the conflict, have rendered unusable an estimated 12,000 hectares in Debub and most of the sub-region of Lalai Gash in Gash Barka.

Due to the conflict, over one million people in the grain producing regions of Gash Barka and Debub were displaced; most are suffering low food production due to security and drought.

Conscription has caused an absence of younger men and women engaged in agricultural activities, which puts a further burden on households.

ETHIOPIA

Exceptionally dry weather resulting from the partial failure of the "Belg" rains (February to May) and the late start of the main "Meher" rains (June to September) has caused serious food shortages in Ethiopia.

In 2003, some 11.3 million people will require food aid. Another three million are likely to face food shortages during the year, meaning the numbers at risk could rise to 14.3 million - one fifth of Ethiopia's total population.

Ethiopia stands on the brink of a crisis similar in magnitude to 1984. In fact, the numbers in need of food aid could exceed that crisis, largely because crop failure in many lowland areas has been so extensive.

In 1983/84, most farmers' harvests covered their food needs for two to three months. Since then, population growth and recurrent droughts have dramatically diminished farmers' food stocks and the land they can farm. In 2003, scorching pasture and ever-diminishing water supplies have already taken a heavy toll on livestock.

Water shortages are expected to reach critical levels in early 2003, with people having to walk up to 10 km to find fresh sources.

Where food aid is not available, drought-hit farmers and herders are forced to resort to ever more desperate measures, such as selling off their belongings to buy food. Some farmers and pastoralists have started to migrate from the drought-hit areas into the main towns. This phenomenon is expected to increase further if distribution of food aid remains inadequate.

The nutritional status is already at unacceptable levels in some parts of Ethiopia, with high levels of moderate and severe malnutrition among children aged less than five.

Ethiopia will require substantial increases in food aid from March to May 2003 and will need to ensure that needs are covered until the next harvest later this year. Total food aid requirements for 2003 are estimated at 1.44 million metric tons (including cereals, blended food and vegetable oil) - valued at around US$500 million.

LESOTHO

In Lesotho, a second year of severe weather, including heavy rainfall, frost, hailstorms and tornadoes, contributed to another poor cereal harvest in 2002 - 60 percent lower than in normal years.

The crisis was exacerbated by increasing poverty, soaring food prices, rising unemployment due to retrenchments in the South African mining industry and the fourth highest adult prevalence rate of HIV/AIDS in the world (31%).

Some 650,000 people will continue to require emergency food aid throughout the country - particularly in Qacha's Nek, Quthing and Mohale's Hoek - until at least May, when the cereal harvest should have finished.

However, thousands of households will continue to need food aid for some time to come due to another poor crop - the result of more erratic weather and environmental degradation.

MALAWI

A poor harvest across Malawi in 2002 left the country facing enormous food shortages. At the peak of the crisis in early 2003, over 3.5 million people needed food assistance.

Forecasts predict that this year's harvest will be better than last year's, but hundreds of thousands of people will still require food aid.

With 60 percent of the population living below the poverty line, Malawi is likely to face an access crisis rather than a production crisis.

Many of the poorest and most vulnerable households will be unable to buy whatever food is available. In fact, according to official figures, 40 percent of Malawians can only afford half their daily requirements.

HIV/AIDS is also taking its toll with an estimated 16.4 percent of the adult population infected.

In April, 3.1 million people will receive food aid to ensure that farmers are not forced into harvesting their crops too early. After that, the number of beneficiaries will drop, but the situation will remain extremely fragile, necessitating continued food aid intervention throughout 2003..


MOZAMBIQUE

Some 650,000 people in southern and central Mozambique require emergency food assistance. However, this figure may yet rise substantially in the coming months, following the WFP/FAO Food and Crop Supply Assessment mission.

Due to insufficient rains, it is very likely that this year's harvest will be even worse than last year's throughout the southern region and in parts of the central region.

The government's contingency plan for natural disasters estimated that the number of people who could be affected by the drought throughout the country could reach as high as 1.5 million.

For thousands of households, this will be their second - or in some cases third - successive year of shortages. Many of these families will have already exhausted their normal coping mechanisms.

Without food aid, the most vulnerable people may be forced to resort to more extreme measures - pulling their children out of school, selling assets, migration - all of which have negative long-term consequences.

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REPUBLIC OF CONGO

The situation in RoC has been volatile ever since hostilities erupted in 2002. Many thousands of people remain displaced by the fighting, and inaccessible to humanitarian agencies.

Some people have succeeded in escaping the conflict area, and finding safety and shelter in camps. Others continue to hide in forests.

Some 80,000 people were forced to flee their homes when violence broke out in the Pool region in March last year.. Three months later, another 20,000 people were displaced by attacks on Brazzaville.

People were left with no choice but to walk for several days in the forest to avoid armed men before taking refuge in camps. Some families were separated, creating female-headed households and unaccompanied children.

Living conditions both in the camps and urban centres is extremely precarious. Most IDPs lost everything in the fighting and are surviving off of relief food as malnutrition rates among the children and elderly rise.

RoC is fighting its hunger against the backdrop of other tragedies: a 7.8 percent HIV/AIDS infection rate among adults and a recent outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus.

In March, WFP provided food aid to large communities of people affected by Ebola in the Cuvette region. The virus is being brought under control, but a significant number of people have died. The authorities' efforts to isolate the spread of Ebola across the border have severely hindered internal trade in an area already struggling to survive.Many people in Cuvette rely on hunting.

The virus also put a further strain on WFP's already limited resources to assist the people of RoC. The Agency struggles to feed some 34,000 IDPS who fled to the capital Brazzaville after the fighting in Pool. Groups that fled to other areas, such as Bouenza Plateaux and Niari Districts, have recently started to return home. Another estimated 60,000 people are still hiding, trapped in the forest for over six months and cut off from international assistance.

WFP only has about one-third of the US$17 million it needs to respond. .

SUDAN

Two decades of armed conflict and recurrent droughts have left some 3.2 million Sudanese dependent on food aid for survival.

The 20-year civil war between the Government of Sudan and the Sudan People's Liberation Army - the single most important cause of food insecurity in Sudan - has resulted in massive displacement of civilians, disruption of agricultural activities and destruction of socio-economic infrastructures in the country.

The effects of the conflict were compounded by three successive years of drought. Emergency food aid is urgently needed in the drought-hit states of Red Sea, Darfur & Kordofan, where the inhabitants' coping mechanisms have been exhausted.

Even where there is relatively good food production, insecurity & a weak marketing system restrict the cost-effective movement of goods into hunger zones.

The recent Machakos peace initiative has brought renewed hopes for peace and improved humanitarian access to areas of Sudan. The agreement, signed in July 2002 between the Government of Sudan and SPLM/A to cease hostilities, was followed in October by a Memorandum of Understanding between the two parties and the United Nations which provides for unimpeded humanitarian access to all areas and people in need of assistance.

While allowing aid to reach parts of Sudan, such as the Blue Nile, for the first time, there has been a simultaneous need for extra resources to support populations previously trapped by the conflict.

SWAZILAND

Swaziland is facing yet another year of serious food shortages, which will leave at least a quarter of the population, or 250,000 people, dependent on food aid throughout 2003.

According to forecasts, this year's overall harvest will be around 40 percent less than normal. In some parts of the worst-affected Lowveld zone, many farmers are facing the prospect of a total crop failure.

Along with poor crop production, Swaziland is struggling with rising poverty (over 60 percent live below the poverty line), increasing unemployment (around 40 percent) and the devastating impact of HIV/AIDS (adult prevalence rate of 38.6 percent).

An estimated 152,000 people will require food aid over the next few months, but this figure is likely to increase dramatically over the course of 2003.



UGANDA

Despite announcements of recent ceasefires, fighting and attacks on civilians in Northern Uganda continues, including raids by the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) rebels.on displacement camps and refugee settlements.

The violence has left more than 800,000 people in urgent need of food aid - a significant increase on the 520,000 displaced people WFP was assisting in July 2002.

Thousands of people have lost their homes and belongings. Crops across the region have been destroyed and harvests have been stolen or destroyed. In some cases farmers have not been able to plant because of the fear of being abducted or killed. This has left hundreds of thousands of people dependent on food aid for the foreseeable future

Many of the victims were already displaced people or refugees, living in absolute poverty in Adjumani, Gulu, Kitgum and Pader districts.

Despite the risks, which include attacks on WFP food convoys, albeit under heavy military escort, the Agency is still providing food aid to almost one million people in the north, including IDPs and refugees.

However, a severe lack of resources recently forced the agency to slash rations by 70 percent of the daily food requirement for IDPs, and to 50 percent for the refugees. Emergency appeals to donors and the subsequent response have helped to remedy the situation, but the food pipeline remains fragile.

At the same time. worsening drought in Karamoja district has prompted WFP to assist some 350,000 people until the next harvest is expected in June. If pessimistic rainfall forecasts prove correct, a greater number of people will need food aid as early as September 2003.

WEST AFRICA

Political crises and civil conflicts have plagued the Mano River countries – Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone and, most recently, Cote d’Ivoire – for many years, leaving a trail of hungry internally displaced persons and refugees in their wake.

It is estimated that 791,000 IDPs and refugees need food aid across the West Africa coastal region.

Sierra Leone’s brutal war was officially declared over in January 2002, with the disarmament of 47,000 ex-combatants under a UN-brokered deal.

But peace is fragile in the world’s poorest country and food aid is essential to ensure peace lasts as thousands of refugees try to rebuild their shattered lives.

Fighting has once again flared up Liberia, forcing some 135,000 people to flee their homes. With no political solution in sight, the humanitarian situation is expected to remain critical throughout 2003.

Many IDPs now live in abandoned buildings, warehouses and out in the open air. Others have crossed the border into Guinea, Cote d’Ivoire and Sierra Leone, threatening to further undermine these countries’ own chances of recovery.

The situation is also tense in Guinea, where WFP is providing food aid to more than 90,000 Sierra Leonean and Liberian refugees. Tens of thousands of Guineans, mainly farmers forced to abandon their land by fighting, are also on the move.

Cote d'Ivoire: until recently, Cote d'Ivoire was one of west Africa's most stable and prosperous nations. But last September 19's army mutiny has seen insurgents take over the north and centre of the country and the uprising is now threatening to spill over into a region-wide crisis.

The parties to the fighting are implementing a fragile peace agreement, but sporadic fighting continues.

Some 200,000 people are believed to have fled the second city of Bouake since insurgents captured it along with most of the north; another 120,000, mainly west African migrants workers, have crossed the border into Burkina Faso, Ghana, Guinea Conakry and Liberia.

In response to the unfolding crisis in Côte d'Ivoire and its humanitarian implications for neighbouring countries, WFP has launched a regional Emergency Operation to assist over 170,000 victims of the civil unrest.

Life-saving operations in Cote d'Ivoire and neighbouring countries includes:

Distribution of emergency rations for displaced people, refugees, asylum seekers and evacuees (people returning to their country of origin).

Curative interventions, such as therapeutic & supplementary feeding for severely and moderately malnourished children.

Emergency school-feeding for primary school children in areas affected by severe food shortage due to the conflict.

WESTERN SAHEL

More than half a million people in five countries - Mauritania, Senegal, the Gambia, Cape Verde and Mali - are on the frontline of a drought.

The governments of Mauritania and the Gambia have already declared national disasters and appealed for emergency food aid.

Mauritania lies at the epicentre of the food crisis, with an estimated 420,000 people out of a total population of 2.7 million at risk of starvation.

First, a January storm killed tens of thousands of the livestock on which households depend for making it through Mauritania's hungry season.

Then, in June & July, late, low and erratic rainfall delayed the start of the cropping season, possibly for good in some areas.

With farming communities across Mauritania already suffering from a poor 2001 harvest, the natural disasters have drained grain reserves and forced families to skip meals to cope with the food shortages.

Many people are borrowing money against the next harvest - whose outcome is likely to be poor - to pay for what little food can be found on rural markets.

Evidence of malnutrition now abounds in the form of exhaustion & loss of weight, night blindness, dehydration, diarrhoea and hunger-related deaths.

Cape Verde is also facing severe food shortages.

The harvest for 2002 was 23 percent less than in the previous year, and a recent food assessment showed that many families have eaten their seed reserves, leaving them nothing to plant in the next harvest.

In June and for the first time in more than 20 years, the Government appealed for international food aid to help cope with the increasing hunger and deteriorating living conditions.



ZAMBIA

Although Zambia's overall harvest is forecast to improve this year, parts of the southern region are facing another year of food shortages due to unfavorable weather conditions.

Erratic rainfall resulted in the loss of significant crops, while pockets of the country also lost their crops due to flooding when the rains finally did come.

Zambia's agricultural production is hampered by the under-utilisation of the large amounts of available arable land and the abundant water resources.

Following the drought last year, 2.8 million Zambians required food aid up until the end of March 2003. This figure will fall dramatically in April as the harvest starts across the country, but hundreds of thousands of people will continue to need food aid, especially in the south.

The crisis in Zambia has been exacerbated by high levels of poverty and economic decline due to contractions in the crucial copper mining industry.

Even when the rural hungry can afford to buy food, Zambia's low population density means that they have to make an exhausting journey on foot over tens of kilometres just to reach the marketplace.
When WFP Food-for-Work beneficiaries were recently asked whether they would prefer to be paid in cash for their labour, they responded that they preferred food as they would have nowhere to buy food with the money.

Zambia also has one of the highest adult prevalence rates of HIV/AIDS in the world - 21 percent.


ZIMBABWE

Zimbabwe, which has normally been a food surplus country, has seen a sharp deterioration in its food security due to a combination of factors: erratic rainfall; a steep economic downturn combined with an equally sharp rise in staple food prices; the negative impact of the government's land reform programme; and the HIV/AIDS pandemic.

The longest dry spell in 20 years has made the food situation especially dire; this is compounded by the huge fall in maize production by commercial farmers, whose yield is normally five times greater than that of small landholders.

The scale of the needs in Zimbabwe during the last year was staggering. In March alone WFP distributed 60,000 metric tons of food aid to 4.7 million Zimbabweans.

Continuing hyperinflation and widespread job losses in agriculture and related industries are rendering large groups of people highly vulnerable.

An overwhelming 33 percent of the adult population is infected with HIV/AIDS. Thousands die each month from the disease. Maintaining proper nutrition is essential to delaying the onset of AIDS and keeping people productive, but the prevailing food shortages have made this very difficult. The pandemic has created a large number of orphans, who are being raised by elderly grandparents. HIV/AIDS is depleting the agricultural workforce, which in turn makes it harder for Zimbabwe to produce enough to feed itself.

Traditionally, Zimbabwe exported large amounts of food due to a vibrant commercial farming sector. But the land reform programme has resulted in a huge drop in maize production. In part, this is because the average yield of subsistence farmers is much lower than that of their commercial counterparts. Moreover, the land reform programme was launched just when the dry spell began.

Continuing hyperinflation and high unemployment are rendering large groups of the urban poor highly vulnerable. Staple foods such as maize and wheat are scarce on the open market, but available at exorbitant prices on the parallel market.

WFP is currently in the midst of assessing the number of Zimbabweans in need of food aid for the coming year.