60 million people in southern Africa suffer from food insecurity
HARARE, ZIMBABWE – About 60 million people in southern Africa are food insecure due to drought caused by El Nino – and the problem is not limited to Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe, according to the United Nations. who launched international appeals for help.
In a statement, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations said Angola, eSwatini, Madagascar, Mozambique and Tanzania are also affected by the drought gripping southern Africa.
Plaxedes Madzikatire, from Zimbabwe’s Chinhoyi district, is one of millions of people struggling to cope with drought in southern Africa. (Columbus Mavhunga/VOA)
Plaxedes Madzikatire, who lives about 100 kilometers south of Harare, is one of millions of people struggling to cope with the drought. She receives $65 a month from the World Food Program (WFP), which she uses to care for her four children after her crops dry up and die.
Cindy McCain of the World Food Program called the El Niño-induced drought in southern Africa a disaster. (Screenshot from Columbus Mavhunga’s Skype video)
She explained that $25 of that money would go toward food and $20 toward tuition. She uses the remaining $20 to finance and upgrade her business selling hoes and axes that she makes from scrap metal. She hopes that the WFP will be able to extend its assistance for a few more months.
WFP will end its aid in the Madzikatire region next month, but the organization hopes to resume soon – and across Zimbabwe – as the effects of the El Nino-induced drought intensify.
In a recent Skype interview from Lusaka, Zambia’s capital, WFP Executive Director Cindy McCain, who was visiting the region to assess the impact of the drought, described it as a disaster.
“These people have lost everything,” she said. “They have no income. They have no way of surviving without assistance all year round because their next crop season will not be harvested until next May. These people depend on the reserves they get from their crops, they didn’t have any this time.
McCain said recurring droughts due to climate change call for more investment in weather forecasting so people can prepare for what’s coming.
And that’s not all, she says. Drought-resistant crops and good water management practices can also help.
“We should treat and manage this drought crisis, the same way we would an emergency crisis in a war zone, say,” she said. “It is very serious and can devastate a country. It is therefore important that we can better use the tools we have and come up with new science and technology to help farmers grow.
Last month, during a virtual summit of SADC heads of state and government on the humanitarian crisis caused by El Niño, the region’s leaders launched an appeal for $5.5 billion.
The FAO says that as El Nino’s grip loosens, La Nina is looming and the region should prepare for new challenges, as this weather phenomenon usually brings heavy rains and flooding, causing damage to cultures and population movements.
