Emergency aid

15.11.2024 | Torrential rains have plunged the Chocó region on Colombia’s Pacific coast into a major humanitarian crisis. Tens of thousands of families, including beneficiaries of SWISSAID projects, are severely affected.

03.10.2024 | Severe flooding has hit the Sahel region in recent weeks. The normally longed-for rainy season is now leading to another critical situation in Niger. Further support is urgently needed!

With political crises and climate change exacerbating hunger in Chad and Niger, SWISSAID provided once more emergency aid in 2023 to alleviate the worst of the situation and avoid endangering years of reconstruction work in the country.

As an expert in the fields of agroecology and gender equality, SWISSAID works in nine countries. On the ground and in close cooperation with local partners, we promote initiatives by people who are independently seeking a way out of poverty.

29.02.2024 | Niger is once again facing an acute food crisis. Due to drought at the end of 2023, over 40% of villages did not produce enough to survive until the next harvest. This distress is compounded by international sanctions and inflation. SWISSAID is providing emergency aid to the most vulnerable. For the first time, a mobile seed market will be set up.

With the military coup in Niger, the country is currently experiencing a profound political crisis. The people have already been suffering from terror and hunger and the difficult food situation for years. The Ukraine war drove up the price of basic foodstuffs, and an acute drought is now being compounded by the consequences of the government crisis.

Despite the tense situation that Myanmar has been experiencing for the past few years, SWISSAID continues its development projects in agroecology and women’s empowerment. With the same objective of providing assistance to the populations in greatest need, Daniele Polini, the program manager in Myanmar, explains the current state of the country and reports on the progress of the projects.

Chad has been devastated by the heaviest downpours in three decades, resulting in unimaginable suffering. The heavy rains have stripped the people of their homes, farmlands, and crops. Those afflicted with hunger are in dire need of new seeds to ensure the upcoming harvest is secure. SWISSAID has initiated an emergency relief initiative to distribute seeds and food packages.

Throughout 2022, the inhabitants of Niger feared the worst. Already weakened by numerous conflicts, climate change has destroyed their crops and left their granaries empty. One year after the beginning of the crisis, women farmers tell us about their situation and how emergency aid saved them and their families.

02.09.2022 | January emergency aid in the south south of Niger is bearing fruit. The farmers in need in need have received food packages and have been able to plant fast-growing seeds for almost immediate consumption. Beyond the emergency, the project has allowed a conversion to more resistant and quality crops for fight against the climate change.

19.07.2022 | SWISSAID is helping the poorest families in southern Niger to survive until the autumn harvest. An emergency aid project provides them with seeds and food parcels to minimise the impact of the impending food crisis. 

2021 was a year of disasters, with the world being confronted with hurricanes, droughts, Covid and terror attacks. Especially in the Global South. SWISSAID was on hand with rapid and uncomplicated assistance – without losing sight of the long-term horizon.

A look back at the year 2021 by Markus Allemann, Managing Director of SWISSAID, on the occasion of the publication of the Annual Report 2021.

Hunger, misery, hardship: a tragedy is brewing in Niger. 3.7 million people are threatened by acute hunger. Conflicts and climate change are to blame. The people are left with nothing. SWISSAID is helping quickly and unbureaucratically with food parcels and seeds.

27.08.2021 | More than 70 people participated in the webinar on local markets and food sovereignty organized by SWISSAID on August 24. All speakers as well as the guests agreed: Many people in the South are dependent on local markets. They, especially women, deserve more help, remuneration and weight for their products.

11.05.2021 | In the shadow of the Corona and climate debate, the most existential challenge of our time is often forgotten: the biodiversity crisis. On 25 May, SWISSAID discussed the silent death of biodiversity and its impact on the spread of diseases, agriculture and the central role played by women farmers.

30.4.21 Not long ago, the Corona situation in India seemed under control. In February 2021, India’s government declared that it had defeated the pandemic. Now the situation is worse than ever. SWISSAID is following the situation with great concern. Kavita Ghandi, Head of the SWISSAID office, tells us what the situation is like on the ground and what impact the pandemic is having on our projects.

Ermelinda Pedro Mendonça is president of the farmers’ association Granja Pessube. This mother of 4 children has both suffered the crisis and participated in the solution, distributing emergency aid. One year later, we asked her about the situation in the country, the changes that have taken place and her vision for the future.

21.04.2021 | One year ago, Covid-19 plunged our planet into uncertainty and fear. The consequences of this pandemic include an alarming increase in the number of hungry people.

Climate extremes, the loss of natural resources and pandemics are shaking up our food systems. What do practical solutions look like so that we can continue to nourish ourselves in the future? In the webinar on 9 March, SWISSAID discussed the urgently needed paradigm shift in our food systems.

The year 2020 was marked by uncertainty and concern – for Mariana Hortas as well. But despite the difficult circumstances, the Ecuadorian is optimistic about the future. Thanks to agroecology, she has reason for hope for herself and her family.

In Nicaragua alone, hurricanes “Iota” and “Eta” in November 2020 left 1.5 million people suffering their devastating effects. With an emergency aid project over the next six months, SWISSAID will be supporting families who were already living in extreme poverty before the disaster – and who are now struggling to survive.

2.12.2020 | The 13-year-old student Maria experiences the lockdown in a small village in Tanzania. Her school is closed. She no longer sees her friends. But her dreams live on.

Washing hands is a decisive measure in the fight against the coronavirus. It is simple and shouldn’t be complicated to implement – so long as there is flowing water. In Niger, where access to clean water is still reserved for a minority, a virus can quickly lead to disaster.

Isolated from the rest of the world and without information: the inhabitants of the indigenous community of Jubal in Ecuador have been left on their own since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. Supply chains have collapsed, and farming families are threatened with malnutrition and financial hardship. Knowledge of agroecological farming methods promises salvation.

India keeps on setting grim records in the fight against the coronavirus. And as if that were not enough, the country is repeatedly hit by natural disasters. People who are already living at  subsistence level are fighting for survival. SWISSAID has responded by providing emergency aid.

July 2020 | The Covid pandemic was a clear wake-up call: Only local agriculture can ensure healthy nutrition for the population. Farmer-owned seeds have a key role to play in this. SWISSAID organized a webinar on this topic in summer 2020 to enable an exchange and dissemination of knowledge between countries and experts.

As a foundation for development cooperation, SWISSAID is also heavily affected by the corona virus. Faced with the crisis, each employee and each project had to reinvent themselves and often work in a hurry. On this page, you will find news from our partner countries for the months of March and April. –Translated with DeepL

15.04.2020 | Washing hands, restricting contacts, exposing fake news: the measures against the coronavirus in our partner countries in the south are similar to those in Switzerland. The only difference is that the general conditions are much more difficult. How SWISSAID is tackling the problem – and why hygiene is not only fundamental to health, but also counteracts the threat of conflict.

25.03.2020 | The global corona crisis does not affect everyone equally. Some people are much more economically and socially affected than others. Women, who are often victims of domestic violence as well as being the sole earners of their families and in precarious employment, are especially under pressure.

As a foundation for development cooperation, SWISSAID is also heavily affected by the corona virus. Faced with the crisis, each employee and each project had to reinvent themselves and often work in a hurry. On this page, you will find news from our partner countries for the months of March and April.

Farmers in Marathwada, India, are suffering from the drought – yet again. SWISSAID is supplying the poorest with water and food rations. For the moment, thanks to this and to our awareness-raising work with the authorities, hundreds of women can breathe a sigh of relief. But the climate crisis calls for long-term solutions.