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14mn people face hunger in southern Africa: WFP

Monday, 18 January 2016 2:03 PM [ Last Update: Monday, 18 January 2016 2:04 PM ]

AFP's file photo shows a Malawian farmer working on his land in Nsanje district several hundred kilometers south of Blantyre.

The UN World Food Program (WFP) says some 14 million people in southern Africa face hunger due to a drought that has been intensified by El Nino weather system.

“With little or no rain falling in many areas and the window for the planting of cereals closing fast or already closed in some countries, the outlook is alarming,” WFP said in a statement on Monday.

“The number of people without enough food could rise significantly over coming months as the region moves deeper into the so-called lean season,” it added.

The food agency also said that Malawi is the worst-affected country as 2.8 million or 16 percent of its population are at risk. Madagascar is the second country in WFP’s list of affected states with 1.9 million people predicted to go hungry.

The situation is also threatening in Zimbabwe as 10 percent of the population of about 1.5 million is facing hunger, WFP also said.

Emaciated cattle roam through the dried up Mfolozi River in Ulundi, some 159km North of Durban on November 9, 2015 in Kwa Zulu Natal, as a sever drought affects South Africa. (AFP)

"WFP is looking to scale up its lean season food and cash-based assistance programs in the worst-hit countries but faces critical funding challenges," the agency further noted.

South Africa had its lowest rainfall last year since records started in 1904. According to South Africa’s Agriculture Minister Senzeni Zokwana, the region needs to import some 10.9 million metric tons of grains like wheat, soybeans and corn.

El Nino has influenced weather patterns across the world. It has caused warmer than normal temperatures in some parts of the world and brought huge rainfall in some others.

El Nino brought very high temperatures and dryness in southern Africa in Malawi, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Angola, Mozambique, Namibia and Zambia. The dry conditions are anticipated to continue until the beginning of autumn in southern hemisphere in April or May.

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