6.8 million people in Africa face hardship due to drought

About 68 million people in southern African countries are suffering from drought caused by the El Nino climate. As a result, crops across the region have been destroyed. This information was reported on Saturday at a meeting of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), a regional alliance of 16 countries in southern Africa.

The drought that started early this year has severely damaged crops in Southern African Development Community countries. Even livestock farming has been disrupted. This has led to severe food shortages and economic impacts in the region.

Heads of state of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) met in Harare, Zimbabwe, on Saturday to discuss various regional issues and crises, including food security.

SADC Executive Secretary Elias Magosi said that currently there are about 68 million people in SADC countries, accounting for about 17% of the region’s total population, who need assistance.

He said this year’s monsoon season was very challenging, with much of the region suffering the negative impact of El Nino weather conditions as the rains arrived late.

Southern Africa has experienced its worst drought in recent years. This change in global climate is caused by abnormal warming of the waters of the eastern Pacific Ocean and rising average temperatures caused by greenhouse gas emissions.

Several countries, including Southern African Development Community members Zimbabwe, Zambia and Malawi, have declared the food crisis a disaster situation. Lesotho and Namibia have also called for humanitarian assistance.

The outgoing SADC chair, Angolan President Joao Lourenço, said the SADC had appealed for $5.5 billion in humanitarian aid in May last year to deal with the impact of the drought in the region, but no grant had been received.

Source: Reuters.

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