When I see improvements, I feel happy, especially in the children.
Measuring hope in a time of drought
On a rocky, windswept hilltop in Ethiopia’s Afar Region, Fatuma Humad carefully wraps a measuring tape around the upper arm of a two-year-old girl.
The measurement, known as MUAC (Mid-Upper Arm Circumference), is a simple but powerful way to tell whether a child is malnourished. This time, the result brings relief. Only weeks ago, the child’s reading showed signs of acute malnutrition. Now, she is improving.
For Fatuma, moments like this matter deeply. Her village, Guhom, is home to around 5,000 people who depend largely on livestock for survival. Years of drought, driven by climate change, have dried up water sources and reduced herds of camels and goats. Poverty and hunger are a daily reality.
“Infants and other children really need help,” Fatuma says. “Without it, malnutrition becomes severe very quickly.”
Women leading lifesaving care
Fatuma is one of eight female health extension workers trained by the Afar Pastoralist Development Association, with support from Oxfam. Across the Afar Region, 40 women like her have been trained to identify and respond to malnutrition among children, pregnant women, and breastfeeding mothers.
These health workers go door to door, measuring MUAC and checking weight to identify families most at risk. Their work ensures that limited food aid reaches those who need it most, fairly and based on evidence.
“We check their weight, and we give them food until they get better,” Fatuma explains. “We monitor them closely and make sure support goes to people who are really in need.”
Targeted food aid saves lives
Working with Oxfam, APDA provided three months of food assistance to around 2,000 families in and around Guhom. The support included wheat flour, maize flour, cooking oil, chickpeas, and lentils, as well as high-calorie, nutrient-rich therapeutic food for people suffering from severe malnutrition.
In just one recent screening, health workers assessed 560 children, 17 of whom urgently needed treatment. Of the 700 women screened, 238 required nutritional support.
One of those families was Zahara’s. Her young daughter was dangerously malnourished, and Zahara herself was struggling.
“She was really bad,” Zahara says. “I was also suffering.”
With access to supplementary food and regular monitoring, both mother and child began to recover.
A region under pressure
In mid-2024, Afar faced overlapping crises including prolonged drought, rising conflict, and a deadly cholera outbreak as displaced families were forced to rely on unsafe water sources.
Nearly half of Afar’s 2.2 million people live in poverty. Delivering humanitarian aid in such remote and insecure conditions is challenging but essential.
“People have a right to basic nutrition,” says Mohamed Ahmed, Deputy Director of APDA. “Afar is the most malnourished region in Ethiopia, yet food aid has been reduced due to rising costs.”
Real impact, close to home
For Fatuma, the impact of this work is personal. She sees it in the children she measures, the mothers she supports, and the neighbours she checks on every day.
“The food helped people,” she says. “We saw significant improvements for the mothers. And when I saw the child improving, I was happy.”
This is what impact looks like: local women, trusted by their communities, using simple tools and timely support to save lives, one measurement, one family, one neighbour at a time.
Real impact, close to home
For Fatuma, the impact of this work is personal. She sees it in the children she measures, the mothers she supports, and the neighbours she checks on every day.
“The food helped people,” she says. “We saw significant improvements for the mothers. And when I saw the child improving, I was happy.”
This is what impact looks like: local women, trusted by their communities, using simple tools and timely support to save lives, one measurement, one family, one neighbour at a time.
