As COVID-19 spreads and working outdoors for daily subsistence becomes a challenge, the livelihoods and food security situation of poor people is highly affected. Some households may even have nothing to eat at all if they have to stay home for long, as one of possible remedies set to control the pandemic.
Many poor people in Ethiopia are now in need of food assistance of any kind. Supporting those who do not go out to work and generate money for daily basic needs is a critical intervention to save lives, who would otherwise be suffering a double burden.
Willing to contribute towards this effect, some staff members of Amref Health Africa in Ethiopia and their keen-to-help friends, mobilize some amount of money and purchased food items for vulnerable communities in Addis Ababa. This individual or small group level aid is part of the on-going rally by the government and voluntarily established local humanitarian groups to help the poor.
The current food aid provided by Amref staff and their friends could feed 15 households for three months, backing the on-going emergency care efforts the Government calls for all who can afford to support. Such assistance helps more those who might be affected because their livelihoods highly depend on the informal sector. Most of these people cannot work from home. If they have to be kept at home, they seek food and other basic supplies to meet their daily needs for some time.
The Government of Ethiopia keeps encouraging well-off households and individuals to support at least one person or household to have one meal per day during these difficult time. This food aid for vulnerable communities’ daily consumption help ease the double burden the poor may undergo.
The food items are delivered to distribution sites and handed out to communities through young volunteers who team up to support the initiative and channel the aid to the community.