DROUGHT STRIKES SOUTHERN AFRICA, THREATENS FOOD SECURITY

Wed 23 October 2024:

Even as the rain season approaches, drought has affected communities in Southern Africa. Bringing with it a humanitarian crisis, the situation has deteriorated to the extent that Zimbabwe and Namibia plan to cull elephants to feed their populations.

Speaking in an interview with Salaamedia on Wednesday, environmentalist and climate change consultant Khalid Mather said an El Niño weather event loomed large over Southern Africa’s grazing and crop fields.

“This is a seasonal event where the water circulation in the southern ocean piles warm water near the equator and then breaks down how the wind flows and how weather is translated from one region to another,” he explained.

Amongst the effects of an El Niño event high temperatures and below-average rainfall. This in turn affects water and food supplies, placing communities in the grip of a humanitarian crisis.

“There’s a food security problem caused by the El Nino amplifying a low rainfall summer. We’re expected to have summer rainfalls, but because of the El Nino that’s been dampened,” said Mather.

In Malawi, where 23 of 38 districts in the country require food aid to survive, the government was in March forced to impose a state of emergency. Closer to home, South African farmers are hoping the skies will open in time to save their crops.