Nearly six and a half million people in southern Africa are starving because of an “historic drought” linked to last year’s El Niño, UN humanitarians said on Tuesday.
In an appeal for help, the World Food Programme, WFP, said that more than 27 million people’s lives from Lesotho to Zimbabwe have been devastated, leaving 21 million children malnourished.
A record five countries have declared a national disaster because of the drought and requested international assistance: Lesotho, Malawi, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe – but Angola and Mozambique have been hit hard, too.
Hunger likely to intensify
For many communities, this is the worst food crisis in decades, said WFP spokesperson Tomson Phiri: “What makes it worse is that October is just the start of the lean season, the peak of the hunger season is January, so things will get worse before they get better.”
Mr. Phiri explained that crops have failed, livestock have died and children are lucky to receive even one meal per day, in the worst-hit households.
To help, the UN agency needs $369 million but it has only received 20 per cent of that amount.
https://news.un.org/en/story/2024/10/1155741
