World Food Programme Fighting Hunger Worldwide

During times of drought and civil conflict, women are usually on the frontlines, fighting to keep their families afloat. Helaffi and Bidari, two women now in a nomadic encampment in northern Djibouti, are typical. Thanks to support from WFP and the EU, they're managing - and the food is keeping their spirits up.

Spain is doubling its 2009 contribution to WFP to support the agency’s efforts to provide urgent food assistance to 20 million people in the Horn of Africa, where erratic rains, conflict and stubbornly high food prices have produced a prolonged hunger crisis.

New Zealander Alastair Cook has been a WFP logistics officer since 2004, facing many challenging situations, including the aftermath of Cyclone Nargis in Myanmar. He says the toughest job he's faced so far was in Kenya, after the election violence had spread terror among WFP beneficiaries.

Millions of people in the Horn of Africa face a deadly mix of persistent drought, poor seasonal rains, conflict and stubbornly high food costs. At the same time, the global financial crisis is threatening to exacerbate levels of hunger and desperation across the region.

Poor rains in the normally wet March-to-May period, compounded by high food and fuel prices, have hit the Horn of Africa region hard. Drought-affected people in the region now number 17.5 million.

Djibouti is used to dry weather but even seasoned pastoralists admit that the rising number of droughts are making their traditional lifestyle tough to sustain. Stephanie Savariaud visits the village of Andoli to see how WFP's Food for Work projects are helping pastoralists diversify for climate change.

In an article first published by the Djibouti triweekly newspaper La Nation, WFP's Fatma Samoura describes the agony of the Day forest, which contains 60 percent of Djibouti's wildlife and flora and fauna.