Self Help Africa says thanks to Meath

Dear sir - I would be grateful if, through your pages you would permit me to express my thanks on behalf of Self Help Africa to all of our supporters in County Meath for the generous support and backing during 2009. Self Help Africa's programmes amongst some of Africa's poorest communities are only possible thanks to the kindness and generosity that we receive from the Irish public. In these difficult economic times it is inevitable that we are more cautious with how we spend our money. Yet it is heartening that people understand also that the global downturn of the past 18 months has hit the poorest and most vulnerable of the developing world the hardest. This fact is born out by figures from the United Nations, which show that over one billion people now face hunger and starvation in the poor countries of the world. Africa's rural poor are also being confronted by the newer challenge of climate change - and gains made over recent decades are in jeopardy if the international community does not support the efforts of rural poor farming communities to adapt to the effects of global warming. Currently in Ethiopia there are more than six million people receiving emergency food aid because of crop failure, while two million people in Kenya's Rift Valley have been similarly affected, after the failure of seasonal rains in four successive years. Self Help Africa is supporting rural communities to adapt to these changing circumstances. I have recently been to Uganda, and am a witness to the huge positive impact that drought tolerant crop varieties, that improved quality seed, that irrigation systems, and that sustainable farming techniques can have on the lives of small-holder farming families - who account for up 80 per cent of Africans. Self Help Africa celebrated 25 years of working with the rural poor of sub-Saharan Africa in 2009. We are extremely proud of the achievements of the past quarter century - but recognise that our job is far from over. For now however let me again say 'thank you 'to your readers for their support, and wish you a safe, peaceful and happy Christmas and New Year. Yours, Ray Jordan, Chief Executive, Self Help Africa. www.selfhelpafrica.net