International aid for African emergencies is in need of a "drastic overhaul," a CARE International UK report warned today. Millions of Africans are at risk of starvation due to erratic funding that, while saving lives, nevertheless sometimes leaves people worse off than they were before.

According to the report, 120 million people in Africa are living "permanently on the edge of emergency" due to current funding mechanisms, which often deliver funds too late, or inappropriately. By 2020, some $310 million will have been spent on emergencies, some of which could have been prevented, the report said.

"It is a disgrace that money is still given too late and for such short periods, then spent on the wrong things to truly fight emergencies," said CARE UK's CEO Geoffrey Dennis. "There is no excuse, when by spending money more intelligently, we can bring an end to all but the most unpredictable food crises."

Food shortages are rarely the cause of emergencies, the report found. The real culprits include HIV/AIDS, lack of local markets, climate change, and a scarcity of cash that makes people vulnerable to crises.

Western donors must undertake "a fundamental shift to more sustainable and predictable funding of emergencies ? so they improve lives as well as save lives," said CARE.

"Emergencies need not be a bottomless pit of money, and millions of people need not live on the edge," said Dennis. "The international community must be much more ambitious about what can be achieved."

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