A Relentless Struggle in Southern Angola: The South West Angola Emergency Response Project relief amid food insecurity

Among the nine major food crises affecting the countries of Central and Southern Africa, Angola is the second worst affected nation, according to data from the World Food Programme's (WFP) Global Food Crisis Report (GRFC) 2023.

The situation of hunger and food insecurity is critical in the country, due to multiple factors, including climate change, which damages crops, and economic factors, such as the disproportionate rise in the price of food, which forces families to have less and less diversity on the table, and when there is something to eat, it is often not enough.

Carolina is a mother, one of many who, in the context of the emergency, has been working to get around the challenging situation she finds herself in. Aged 42 and with her five children, she lives in the community of Bata-Bata, Humpata municipality in Huíla. In the short rainy season that is recorded in the south, Carolina works on her small plough, and in the dry season, which is most of the season, she does odd jobs to make ends meet for her children.

"In the rainy season I'm going to work really hard to see if I can plant something so that I can harvest it later, and if the rain falls really well, I'll get something to feed the children," she said hopefully.

The South West Angola Emergency Response (SWAER-II) project has reached this community with the aim of minimising the effects of the drought in that district.

Southern Angola is characterised by drought and families living in this region have faced various problems with access to water, and food insecurity is very visible. The already short rainy season is not enough for planting to be prosperous, and with the economic crisis that has been worsening in the country, families are seeing episodes of food shortages become increasingly dramatic. Parents, most of whom are farmers, don't have enough to feed their children, because the little they harvest is not enough to feed everyone for a longer period of time until the next harvest.

As part of the nutritional screening carried out by the World Vision Angola team in the community of Bata-Bata, one of Carolina's children was diagnosed with severe acute malnutrition, and was immediately referred by the

nutrition team to the nearest health unit in her commune, where he began to receive treatment with the therapeutic food, RUTF.

Of the five children Carolina has, two others have also been diagnosed with malnutrition, although this time with moderate acute malnutrition, and have benefited from supplementation with PREMIX porridge, which is a balanced mixture of soya, maize, sugar and vegetable oil, developed by our nutrition experts.

The mothers and siblings of the malnourished children registered by the project also benefited from a full, hot meal every day.

In the month of August 2023 alone, twelve children with severe acute malnutrition and 19 with moderate acute malnutrition were diagnosed at the Bata-Bata commune Health Unit, out of a total of 80 screenings carried out.

Through the weekly nutritional screening that was carried out, the SWAER II team monitored 507 children at the Bata-Bata Feeding Centre, where between 160 and 200 meals a day were distributed.

Thanks to the Premix meal, Carolina's children have shown signs of recovery. The mum says she was pleased to see her children recover, but says she won't be able to prevent them from getting ill again, because as she said, what she has to offer isn't much either: "Porridge is the first meal my daughter has had today, and the way my conditions are, it may be the only one. Whatever we have at home we'll eat, if I don't have anything I can also prepare something just to get through the rest of the day," Carolina lamented.

Carolina testifies that it hasn't been easy, she's tired of living in this context and wishes that one day the cause would be overcome and we could all say: ENOUGH!