Drought Affecting Millions

　　Africa is facing one of its worst droughts in history. The UN’ food aid unit，the World Food Program (WFP)， has said approximately 14 million people are facing hunger in Southern Africa. The reason has been put down to the drying effects of El Nino， the weather pattern of rising temperature that contributed to massive crop failure in 2015.

　　The countries in the region hardest hit by poor rainfall last year， according to the WFP， are Malawi (2.8 million people facing hunger)， Madagascar (nearly 1.9 million) and Zimbabwe (1.5 million)， where the harvest in 2015 was reduced by 50 percent compared to the previous year.

　　South Africa and Lesotho have also been hammered. The former has its worst drought in more than 100 years while the Lesotho Government has declared a drought emergency， with some 650，000 people， almost a third of the population， not having sufficient food.

　　In February， the UNICEF reported that despite heavy rains in East Africa， Ethiopia has its worst drought in 30 years， with the number of those affected expected to rise from 10 million to 18 million by the end of the year - 6 million of them being children. The dark side of the drought is the ripple effect of increases in food prices. Prices across Southern Africa have risen sharply as a direct result of the fall in food production. This means those already living on and below the breadline are hit with a double whammy， as food， especially the region’staple food of maize， becomes scarcer. Allied to this， the WFP says one of the more worrying symptoms of Southern Africa’ vulnerability to food and nutrition security is the alarming rate of chronic malnutrition. Levels of stuntedness in growth among children in Madagascar， Malawi， Mozambique and Zambia are now among the worst in the world.

　　Clearly Africa is in need of help as many of the countries affected have neither the social systems nor government resources to survive the drought alone. The U.S. Agency for International Development has announced emergency aid of $97 million to assist with drought relief in Ethiopia， but this is a far cry from the $1.4 billion sought by the UN. China has also come to the assistance of drought victims. Chinese President Xi Jinping said at the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation Summit in Johannesburg in December last year that his country is greatly concerned about the poor harvest caused by El Nino in many African countries and will provide $156 million worth of emergency food aid.

　　But ultimately， as with all problems in Africa， it needs African solutions. One useful agency trying to provide a viable solution is the African Risk Capacity， a specialized agency of the African Union which assists member states in times of natural disasters through a weather insurance mechanism. But while 32 countries in Africa are signatories， only seven have actually paid the insurance premium， which amounts to $178 million. The organization is hoping to extend the insurance cover to $1.5 billion， covering 30 countries by 2020. African countries need more of these types of initiatives for the continent to look to one another in times of trouble and slowly wean themselves off the helping hand of foreign aid.

　　THE EDITOR

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