Abbas Shukri Mohamud
For me, the year 1984 brings images of starving children in the most distressing scenes in Ethiopia. I remember the world’s response and now 40 years later, we are still seeing the impact of a severe drought.
The East Africa region is facing one of the worst hunger crises in recent memory. The reality of climate change shows that Ethiopia, Sudan, Somalia and Kenya have endured droughts and floods in recent years which have crippled people’s means to feed themselves.
Islamic Relief was founded in 1984, in response to the devastating hunger crisis in East Africa, including Ethiopia. While there have been improvements to the lives of vulnerable people in the country since that time, climate change means that the frequency and severity of droughts and their impact on communities is increasing.
Today we feel that much of the world has forgotten our plight, the humanitarian situation is rarely seen on the news and does not make front page headlines, but the suffering is immense.
Ethiopia has just had three years of harsh drought. According to the World Food Programme (WFP), in 2025 more than 10 million people are facing hunger and malnutrition across Ethiopia. These include 3 million people forcibly displaced from their homes due to conflict and extreme weather.
The Ethiopian government and other actors spend billions of dollars annually sending water trucks and other support to crisis and drought-stricken communities in Ethiopia but are looking for a better solution to make these areas more climate resilient. The government has created a $770 million plan referred to as the ‘multi layered resilience initiative’ which aims to address this by 2028.
In Ethiopia, farmers have been struggling to cope with drought and a lack of safe drinking water, livestock losses and depleted incomes.
An innovative project that was implemented by Islamic Relief from December 2021 to February 2025 has helped 22,800 pastoralist families cope with drought shocks, lack of safe drinking water, livestock losses and depleted incomes.
£1.6 million for the project was initially raised by Islamic Relief UK through the generous donations of the British Muslim public during the holy month of Ramadan in 2019, when Muslims give a percentage of their wealth (Zakat) to help others less fortunate. These donations were match funded pound for pound by the UK government through their UK Aid Match Fund, resulting in an incredible £2m of match funding The overall funding for the project totalled £3.6 million. This generosity of the British public and the work of UK Aid Match must be replicated by others across the globe.
When drought hits, the health of livestock deteriorates, exposing them to disease and ill health. The lower price for a sick and weak animal means that pastoralists have less money to buy essential food. In addition, water sources dry up and there is large scale migration of pastoralist families in search of water for both livestock and their families.
The pastoralists were unable to afford fuel for generators to irrigate water for their agricultural land and for their livestock and families.
With the help of four solar powered river intake irrigation systems provided by the project, there are zero fuel costs. This is providing a cost-effective and climate adaptive reliable source of water for irrigation and agriculture, which is contributing to reducing the food insecurity of vulnerable pastoralist households.
Satellite-based early warning information is helping to map pasture and water sources – messages are sent to farmers on their mobile phones, so they know where to get water and fodder in times of scarcity. Community members have also been trained on how to protect their livestock from illness, and dams have been constructed to provide water to drought-affected communities.
Around 80% of the people in this area are pastoralists who primarily rely on livestock. There has been a decrease in animal livestock deaths in the project areas by 73.62% and poor populations like those in the village of Sogsog have told Islamic Relief they are feeling wealthier and are producing more food.
This is a glimmer of hope in an ocean of hardships as Mohamed, a father of seven children, living in Dawacale kebele of Hargelle woreda described when he said: “I used to struggle to feed my children because of a very costly crop cultivation due to high fuel costs and low purchasing power.
“The successful installation of solar powered irrigation systems on our farmlands helped with the biggest challenge of buying fuel as solar power is free.
“We started to plant Sudan grass and maize using the system.”
There is an urgency now for the world to wake up. We need to start thinking more about innovation and different ways to tackle these issues. The UK Aid Match project is a great example of what can be achieved in thinking outside of the box.
Unfortunately, it is likely that these climate related droughts and floods will only increase as global warming worsens. Time is not on our side.
We must remember that in other areas of the country and across East Africa, the catastrophic effects of climate change are searing into people’s lives. The world’s attention needs to focus on the East Africa hunger crisis and other forgotten disasters. The headlines that come today and are gone tomorrow cannot fool us into thinking that just because it is not on our TV screens, that the problem has gone away.
Abbas Shukri Mohamud, Islamic Relief Ethiopia
