World Food Programme Fighting Hunger Worldwide

Fleeing conflict and drought in their native Somalia, Talata and her family undertook a slow and dangerous journey to Ethiopia in search of refuge. Ethiopia, itself reeling from a severe drought, is often seen as a safe haven by refugees fleeing conflict in Somalia, Sudan, and Eritrea.

Sindayo Tsegay sees herself first and foremost as a mother, a role which brings daily challenges. For Sindayo, who lives in northern Ethiopia, those challenges used to seem insurmountable before a tree-planting project changed her life as well as the lives of neighboring families.

Dadij and Senite live in the Doba Region in Eastern Ethiopia, about 20 km apart from each other. The key difference between them is that Dadji has been taking part in a land rehabilitation project and Senite has not. This meant that their experience of this year's drought in the Horn of Africa was quite different.

WFP has launched a helicopter air service to deliver urgently needed food assistance to camps in Ethiopia hosting Somali refugees. Made possible by support from the European Commission’s Humanitarian Aid department (ECHO), the helicopter will allow regular access to camps in Dolo Ado where fixed-wing aircraft have been unable to land since heavy rains flooded the airstrip.

With the help of WFP's food support and livelihood assistance programmes, Belaynish Dabe and her HIV-positive husband no longer struggle to feed themselves and their children.  WFP's food support to people living with HIV helps ameliorate the double burden of lack of income and deteriorating health. 

Communications Analyst, Mariko Hall, was in Nairobi recently as part of the flood of humanitarian workers arriving in the Horn of Africa to help with the hunger crisis. She was with WFP's crack emergency telecoms team FITTEST, which is always brought in to get vital communications systems in place fast. Sitting in a guest house where there's no power, she explains some of the challenges of setting up a COMCEN (Communications Centre) in emergency environments.

The UN focused its attention to the humanitarian crisis in the Horn of Africa on Saturday, with Secretary General  Ban Ki-moon warning that the “crisis grows deeper by the day”. Looking for long-term solutions at a mini-summit, he cited programs in Ethiopia and Kenya which showed how "drought need not become famine"

WFP is teaming up with PepsiCo and USAID to develop a specialised nutrition product for children in Ethiopia. The product, made from locally-grown chickpeas, is part of an innovative public-private sector partnership aimed at increasing production of chickpeas in Ethiopia while addressing child malnutrition.

Back in July, Sadak Hassan Abdi, aged 18 months, was acutely malnourished and his mother was afraid he would die. But a combination of hospital treatment and special food from WFP has restored him to health and provided a striking illustration of how the right action can be critical in the Horn of Africa.

Fethi Mohammed knows what it's like to be a refugee. When he was young, his family fled from political turmoil in Ethiopia. Today, he's back in his native country delivering food to those in need.