70 million hit by devastating drought and food shortages in southern Africa
Nearly 70 million people in southern Africa are suffering from the effects of an El Niño-induced drought, according to the Southern African Development Community, resulting in widespread food shortages and even forcing some families to eat grass seed.
Nearly 70 million people in southern Africa are suffering from the effects of an El Niño-induced drought, according to the Southern African Development Community, resulting in widespread food shortages and even forcing some families to eat grass seed.
Zambia and Zimbabwe have declared the hunger crisis a state of disaster, while Lesotho and Namibia called for humanitarian support.
In landlocked Malawi, the situation is particularly acute, with almost half the nation’s population — an estimated 9 million people — in need of humanitarian assistance, according to a UNICEF report. Half of those are children, as the worst midseason dry spell in over a century devastates a nation where over 80% of people rely on rain-fed agriculture.
The landscape stretching around Jangiya, a small farming village of just 80 households in southern Malawi, is parched and barren. Normally, it’s lush with crops and fresh produce at the end the rainy season, but this year little trace of green remains after a devastating, monthslong drought.
Some families have begun eating grass seed plucked from nearby fields after their crops withered in the scorching heat. In April, local media reported that 17 Malawians were hospitalized after digging up poisonous tubers in desperate hunger.
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