Report: 68M People Suffering From Southern Africa Drought

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Facts

  • On Saturday, the Southern African Development Community (SADC) reported that the El Nino-induced drought has destroyed crops — affecting 68M people in southern Africa, or 17% of the population, and prompting a need for humanitarian support.[1]
  • Malnutrition has impacted Zimbabwe, Malawi, and Zambia the most severely since the drought began in early 2024.[2]
  • Other countries, like Lesotho and Namibia, have called for humanitarian support. In May, SADC launched an appeal for humanitarian assistance for $5.5B, but donations reportedly fell short.[3]
  • The SADC declared that the drought had worsened preexisting crises such as sluggish economic growth, political instability, and limited access to vital services — bringing millions closer to humanitarian crisis.[4]
  • Additionally, the drought has resulted in a significant energy deficit — leading countries like Zambia to rely on imports from nearby nations in order to sustain their economies.[5]
  • A 16-nation SADC summit called on its regional and international partners to intensify their efforts. In addition to the southern Africa drought, the meeting also voiced its concern regarding the ongoing conflict in the eastern region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.[6]

Sources: [1]Reuters, [2]Al Jazeera, [3]Voice of America, [4]Northafricapost, [5]Aa and [6]The Business Standard.

Narratives

  • Narrative A, as provided by Global Citizen. El Nino, a climate phenomenon, is causing a severe drought in southern Africa, resulting in water shortages, food insecurity for millions of people, and wildlife deaths in Botswana and Zimbabwe. People are starving and urgently in need of humanitarian aid, yet foreign donors have not met the target established to tackle this catastrophe. The region is in dire need of international assistance, and donors need to step up their efforts immediately.
  • Narrative B, as provided by The Conversation. Climate change is known to increase the frequency and severity of extreme weather events. It's established that droughts in southern Africa are caused by a lack of preparedness, inadequate response, mitigation, and risk reduction. With little to no planning for drought disasters like the failure of the main maize crop, the only choice once the crisis hits is to rely on relief efforts. Going forward better coordination and collaboration between governments across the region is needed.

Predictions