| Famine in southern Africa Aid agencies have warned that 14 million people in southern Africa face starvation. Mark Oliver outlines the situation in the main affected countries Thursday July 25, 2002 From: the Guardian What is happening? Hundreds have already died in Malawi and the threat of famine looms large in Zambia, Zimbabwe, Angola, Mozambique, Swaziland, and Lesotho. Crops have failed due to droughts and floods. Attempts to deal with the problem have been hampered by political chaos and the inadequate infrastructure in the most affected places. The World Food Programme (WFP) said that southern Africa needs 1.2m tonnes of food to help it through the year. The EU and the US are helping, but the main problem is effective delivery. Malawi The WFP says that Malawi, a landlocked country rated as one of the world's poorest, is facing its worst crop failure since 1949, following a cataclysmic combination of droughts and floods which have devastated the harvest. There have also been reports that rampaging elephants and hippos have destroyed large tracts of crop fields in some lakeshore districts. The WFP estimates that, unless food aid can be transported to Malawi in the coming months, up to 3 million people will be on the verge of starvation by the end of the year. Malawi declared a state of emergency in February. Food prices have rocketed by 60% in the past 12 months - far beyond the reach of the 65% of Malawians who live below the poverty line. Families are selling off their livestock at give-away prices to raise cash for food. One-fifth of the population are infected with HIV or Aids. Zimbabwe More than 5 million people are in desperate need of food aid in Zimbabwe, according to the WFP. The government declared a state of disaster in April. However, the government's policy of seizing productive white-owned farms has compounded the problem. Even the finance minister, Simba Makoni, has admitted that turning the farms into smaller units has damaged productivity. Zimbabwe is enduring its longest drought in 20 years, which followed exceptionally high rainfall that undermined the 2001 harvest. The WFP reports that there are "staggering shortages", including a 1.5m-tonne cereal gap, as well as the "near collapse of large-scale commercial farming due to land reform activities". The worst-hit areas are poor rural communities in the south, west and extreme north of the country. Many of the urban poor and an estimated 825,000 commercial farm workers have lost their livelihoods. The WFP says the food crisis has had a dramatic impact on everyday life: long queues for food are now commonplace; some families are travelling 70km to buy maize; and people are surviving on one meal a day. Mozambique More than half-a-million people will need emergency food aid by October, the WFP believes. There was a prolonged dry spell in southern and central Mozambique, which lasted half the growing season. The same areas had catastrophic floods in 2000, which washed away crops and drowned animals, with the result that around 180,000 farmers have not had full harvests for three years. Food stocks are exhausted. The increasing clamour for food in nearby Malawi and Zambia is exacerbating the crisis, pushing market prices in Mozambique beyond the reach of the rural poor. At the same time, Mozambique is set to export 100,000 tonnes of surplus maize currently considered too expensive to shift to the south. Zambia The WFP estimates that over 2 million Zambians will require emergency food aid after suffering a second successive bad harvest. The southern province is the worst-affected, with 60% of the population needing food aid. The maize crop was an almost total failure. Last year's maize production fell by one-quarter, after severe flooding hit southern and eastern Zambia. Most farmers consequently have little in reserve to cope with the current crisis. Hunger is forcing many children to drop out of school. Zambia's low population density means they have to make an exhausting journey on foot over tens of kilometres just to reach school. HIV and Aids affect 20% of the population. Lesotho With cereal output one-third less than in 2001, the WFP estimates that some 445,000 people will require emergency food aid - many of them for up to a year. Heavy rain delayed last year's planting; then, in March, frost damaged crops at the end of the growing season. There is food in the markets but, with two-thirds of Lesotho living below the poverty line, most people cannot afford the soaring prices. Many families are surviving on one meal a day; in desperation, people are stealing livestock and selling it to raise money for food. There are few jobs for the people of Lesotho to fall back on. Unemployment, usually at 30%, is rising because of the retrenchment of Basotho workers in South African mines. Swaziland The weather has been erratic for a second successive year - including a dry spell just when the maize crop was flowering - in this landlocked, mountainous country. According to the WFP, some 144,000 people in Lowveld, Middleveld and Lubombo plateau will require emergency food aid over the next six months. In Lowveld, some 50% of farmers will harvest nothing. HIV and Aids affect 20-30% of the population. Judith Lewis, the regional director for the UN's World Food Programme, told a press conference in Johannesburg last month that she saw people living off nuts and berries in Swaziland. |
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