UN: 45 Million people facing food emergency in Southern Africa

The United Nations World Food Programme has said that the international community must increase support to Southern African countries. UNWFP reports assert that 45 million people will be severely food insecure in the next six months.

"A record 45 million people across the 16 nation Southern African Development (SADC) will be severely food insecure in the next six months," a UNWFP (United Nations World Food Programme) said in a press statement. "The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the World Food Programme (WFP) are calling for urgent funding to avert a major hunger crisis," it further added. 

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11 million people face emergency food insecurity

The frequent cyclones and persistent droughts have also contributed to the worsening of the humanitarian situation in Southern Africa. The region is also dealing with lack of jobs, rising food prices, and mass losses of livestock. The press release also stated that in the countries of Angola, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Zambia, Madagascar, Malawi, Namibia, Eswatini and Lesotho, more than 11 million people now face an emergency level of food insecurity."

Scaling up response

In order to combat this, the United Nations is scaling up its response. The UN intends to deliver assistance to the nine countries by somewhere in mid-2020. The UN press statement said, "The assistance includes aid to farmers to boost production, adopt climate-smart agricultural approaches, better access credits and promote vaccination campaigns to prevent livestock disease."

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Southern Africa facing worst drought in five years

 WFP’s acting Regional Director for Southern Africa also said the region is facing one of the worst droughts in five years and asserted more needs to be done to combat drought situation while pressing the nutritional need for millions of people. “We must meet the pressing emergency food and nutrition needs of millions of people, but also invest in building the resilience of those threatened by ever more frequent and severe droughts, floods and storms,” he said. 

The reports by the International Panel on Climate Change also reveal that the temperatures in the region are rising twice as quickly compared to the global average. To curb the emergencies, the UN is scaling up its response to deliver assistance to the nine countries by mid-2020. "The assistance includes aid to farmers to boost production, adopt climate-smart agricultural approaches, better access credits and promote vaccination campaigns to prevent livestock disease," the statement further said.

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(With agency inputs)