The United Nations’ World Food Program says southern Africa is struggling to get donor attention for its worst food crisis due to disasters and multiple conflicts in other regions.
According to the report, it is estimated that approximately 27 million people in seven countries are food insecure due to the dry season caused by the El Niño phenomenon. The organization needs $370 million to respond to what is being described as the worst drought in 100 years, but has only raised a fifth of that.
“With competing emergencies occurring around the world, we risk being forgotten,” Eric Pardison, WFP’s regional director for South Africa, told a virtual briefing on Friday.
In the case of Zimbabwe, where drought has reduced maize crops across the region by 70%, relief efforts are competing with similar appeals elsewhere.
Floods and an Islamic insurgency have fueled famine in West Africa’s Sahel region, leaving tens of millions of people in need of aid, while conflict has caused near-famine conditions in parts of Sudan. At the same time, the war between Israel and Hamas has led to calls for aid to starving Palestinians.
“There are so many competing emergencies around the world,” Pardison said. “There is a huge strain on donor resources.”
Due to the drought, the region will need to import 3 million tonnes of grain, WFP said.
The event comes at a time when the war between Russia and Ukraine has fueled food inflation due to limited grain supplies from the Black Sea region. Attacks on ships in the Red Sea by Yemen’s Houthi rebels have also forced suppliers to take more expensive routes around Africa.
This is exacerbating the effects of repeated climate disasters in parts of southern Africa, such as the cyclones that hit Mozambique and Malawi in recent years.
“There is a recovery deficit,” Antonella D’April, WFP’s Mozambique director, said at a press conference. “Communities are no longer able to stand up and stand up like they used to.”
A small harvest was completed in April and May, but unless further aid arrives, hunger levels are expected to worsen until next year’s harvest, WFP officials said.
Droughts have occurred regularly in the region in the past, but they seem to be becoming more frequent.
“I can’t point to any other factors other than climate change,” Pardison said.
