(CAPE TOWN, South Africa) — Months of drought in southern Africa caused by the El Niño climate have adversely affected more than 27 million people and caused the worst famine in decades, the United Nations said on Tuesday. .
The World Food Program warned that it could be a “massive humanitarian disaster.”
Five countries – Lesotho, Malawi, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe – have declared national disasters due to drought and famine. WFP estimates that 21 million children in South Africa are malnourished as crops have failed.
Tens of millions in the region rely on small-scale rain-fed agriculture for food and money to buy food. Aid agencies warned of a potential disaster late last year as the naturally occurring El Niño led to below-average rainfall across the region, the impact of which has been exacerbated by warming temperatures associated with climate change.
“This is the worst food crisis in decades,” said WFP spokesperson Thomson Phiri. “October in southern Africa marks the start of the harvest season, and each month is expected to be worse than the last until next year’s harvest in March and April. Crops failed, livestock died and children are lucky to get one meal a day.”
Five countries have declared drought-related disasters and asked for international aid, while Angola on the west coast of Africa and Mozambique on the east coast have also been “severely affected,” Phiri said, showing the extent of the drought that has affected the entire country. region.
“The situation is bad,” said Phiri. He said the WFP needed about $369 million to provide immediate aid but received a fifth of that amid a shortfall in donations. WFP has started helping with food aid and other essential support at the request of various governments in the region, he said.
Phiri said the crisis in South Africa has come at a time of “growing global needs,” with humanitarian aid urgently needed in Gaza, Sudan and other places.
Some aid organizations say that the drought is the most severe in southern Africa, as the aid organization in the United States, USAID, said in June that it was the worst drought in 100 years during the agricultural season of January to March, which wiped out a lot of crops and food. in millions.
El Niño, the climate that warms parts of the central Pacific, has different effects on the climate in different parts of the world. The most recent El Niño formed in the middle of last year and ended in June. It was blamed, along with human-caused climate change and overall ocean warming, for a wild 12 months of heat waves and extreme weather.
In southern Africa, food prices have skyrocketed in many drought-stricken areas, adding to the crisis. The drought had other devastating effects.
Zambia has suffered massive power outages and experienced hours and sometimes days of blackouts because it relies heavily on hydroelectricity from the massive Kariba Dam. The water level of the dam is so low that it cannot generate power. Zimbabwe shares the dam and is also experiencing power outages.
Authorities in Namibia and Zimbabwe have resorted to killing wild animals including elephants to provide meat to hungry people.
Scientists say that sub-Saharan Africa is one of the areas most vulnerable to climate change due to its heavy reliance on rain-fed agriculture and natural resources. Millions of African livelihoods depend on the climate, while poor countries are unable to finance climate change measures.
Source link
