Cape Town, South Africa — Months from Drought in South Africa Its effects El Nino weather phenomenon Hunger has had a devastating impact on more than 27 million people and caused the worst hunger crisis in the region in decades, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization said on Tuesday.
The World Food Program warned that it could become a “large-scale humanitarian catastrophe.”
Five countries – Lesotho, Malawinamibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe – They declared national disasters due to drought and resulting hunger. The World Food Program estimates that about 21 million people Children in South Africa They are now suffering from malnutrition due to crop failure.
Tens of millions in the region depend on small-scale, rain-fed agriculture to secure their food and earn money to buy supplies. Aid agencies warned of a potential disaster late last year The natural phenomenon of El Nino This resulted in below-average rainfall across the region, while its impact was exacerbated by rising temperatures linked to climate change.
“This is the worst food crisis in decades,” said World Food Program spokesman Thompson Phiri. “October in southern Africa marks the start of the lean season, and each month is expected to be worse than the previous until next year’s harvest in March and April.
“Crops failed, livestock perished, and children were lucky to get just one meal a day.”
The five countries that have declared drought-related disasters have requested international aid, while Angola on Africa’s west coast and Mozambique on the east coast have been “severely affected,” Phiri said, showing the extent of the drought’s sweep across the continent. region.
“The situation is tragic,” Ferry said. He said that the World Food Program needs about $369 million to provide immediate assistance, but has received only a fifth of this amount amid a shortage in donations. He added that the World Food Program had begun providing food aid and other “vital support” at the request of various governments in the region.
Phiri noted that the crisis in South Africa came at a time of “high global needs” with a dire need for humanitarian aid in the region. Gaza, Sudan And in other places.
Other aid agencies said this drought in southern Africa was particularly severe, with the US aid agency, USAID, saying in June that it was the severest drought in 100 years during the January-March agricultural season, leading to Wiping out large areas of crops and food. For millions.
El Niño, a naturally occurring climate phenomenon that warms parts of the central Pacific Ocean, has different effects on the weather in different parts of the world. The most recent El Nino phenomenon formed in the middle of last year and ended in June. It has been blamed, along with human-caused climate change and general ocean warming, for 12 months of heatwaves and extreme weather.
In southern Africa, food prices have risen sharply in many drought-affected areas, leading to increased hardship. Drought also had other harmful effects.
Zambia has lost much of its electricity needs and has been plunged into hours and sometimes days of power outages because it relies heavily on hydropower. From the huge Kariba Dam. The water level in the dam is so low that it can hardly generate any power. Zimbabwe shares a dam and also suffers from regular power outages.
Authorities in Namibia and Zimbabwe did so She resorted to killing wildlifeIncluding elephants, to provide meat for the hungry.
Scientists say that sub-Saharan Africa is one of the regions most vulnerable to climate change due to its heavy reliance on rain-fed agriculture and natural resources. The livelihoods of millions of Africans depend on climate, while poor countries are unable to finance climate change adaptation measures.
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