insert_link Africa Lesotho declares food insecurity emergency Lesotho's government says people are at risk of extreme hunger in the next eight months. The country's Prime Minister Sam Matekane has declared a national food insecurity disaster spanning eight months from July 2024 to March 2025. The Lesotho Times reports Matekane announced that severe El Niño-induced droughts are causing extreme hunger for at least 700,000 Basotho, a notable rise from the 582,000 affected in the 2022/2023 period. This crisis, […] todayJuly 24, 2024 3
insert_link Environment Drought response to cost N$ 1.3 billion Following President Nangolo Mbumba’s declaration of a national emergency due to severe drought induced by El Nino, the government has allocated N$825 million for relief efforts, but Deputy Prime Minister John Mutorwa says a funding gap of N$482 million, with the total needed at N$1.307 billion. Relief efforts include food aid for nearly 342,000 households, livestock support, and water provisions. Executive Director in the Office of the Prime Minister, I-Ben […] todayJune 20, 2024 24
insert_link Africa Malawi faces a food crisis: why plans to avert hunger aren’t realistic and what can be done By Joachim De Weerdt, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) and Jan Duchoslav, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) Malawi is heading towards a severe food crisis later this year. Drought brought on by the El Niño weather pattern has affected the harvest of maize, the staple food grown by nine out of 10 farming households in the country. The government declared a state […] todayJune 3, 2024 12
insert_link Africa Sweet sorghum is a hardy, nutritious, biofuel crop that offers solutions in drought-hit southern Africa Sweet sorghum ripening in Rwanda. Ari Beser/Getty Images By Hamond Motsi, Stellenbosch University The southern African region is battling with drought at present. This is the result of El Niño, a natural climate cycle characterised by changes in Pacific Ocean temperatures. It has effects on global weather patterns, particularly rainfall and temperature. The drought has hit the region’s agricultural productivity hard. Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe have […] todayMay 23, 2024 14
insert_link Africa More than half of Zimbabwean population needs food aid Zimbabwe’s cabinet has revealed that more than half of the nation’s population of about 15 million people will immediately need food aid until March next year, as the country reels from the impact of the El Niño weather phenomenon that’s already slashed corn output and led to a national state of disaster being declared. Bloomberg reports that the southern African nation’s rural areas are the most affected with 6 million […] todayMay 16, 2024 8
insert_link Environment Agriculture Ministry calls for national drought emergency The Ministry of Agriculture, Water, and Land Reform has advised the government to declare a national drought emergency following its assessment of crop prospects and food security. According to Nampa, the recommendation was made after monitoring the situation in the seven major northern communal crop-producing regions from 12 February to 11 March 2024. Executive Director Ndiyakupi Nghituwamata highlighted significant distress grazing in the southern, western, and eastern parts of the […] todayApril 23, 2024 17
insert_link Africa Insurance payouts expected for some Southern African drought hit countries A drought driven by the El Nino weather pattern is likely to trigger insurance payouts to four southern African countries that took out cover with an agency of the African Union. Bloomberg reports that Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe, and Mozambique will receive payments at the end of the harvesting season, according to current projections, African Risk Capacity said in a statement but the payments are unlikely to meet regional needs. todayApril 22, 2024 16
insert_link Africa El Niño drought leaves Zimbabwe’s Lake Kariba only 13% full: a disaster for people and wildlife By Joshua Matanzima, The University of Queensland Water levels at Lake Kariba in Zimbabwe have dropped dramatically because of the latest El Niño drought. The country’s president, Emmerson Mnangagwa, has declared a national disaster. Historian and social scientist Joshua Matanzima grew up at Lake Kariba and has spent the past 10 years researching socioeconomic life there. He discusses the impact of the latest drought on the people of […] todayApril 15, 2024 20
insert_link Environment El Niño disasters: governments know what’s coming, but are unprepared – what must change By Tafadzwanashe Mabhaudhi, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine Drought disasters in southern Africa are mainly attributed to a lack of preparedness, inadequate response and mitigation and poor risk reduction measures. With little to no preparation for drought disasters, such as the failure of the staple maize crop, the only option after the disaster hits is delayed relief action. Because of climate change, the El Niño-induced impacts […] todayApril 2, 2024 14
Paying it forward: Kenyan coastal doctor Bashrahil Mohammed Mafudh has made it his life’s work to care for the most vulnerable in his community, at no cost.
