Nearly 68 million people reeling from drought in Southern Africa: Official
Nearly 68 million people reeling from drought in Southern Africa: Official
The 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 needs humanitarian support.
Malnutrition has hit Zimbabwe, Malawi, and Zambia the hardest since the drought began in early 2024, declaring the hunger crisis a state of disaster.
The Spin
ClimateThe changeoccurrence of El Nino, a climate phenomenon, is drivingcausing droughtsa severe drought in Southernsouthern 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 assistanceaid, whereas internationalforeign donors have fallennot shortmet of the goaltarget setestablished to addresstackle this crisiscatastrophe. The region is in dire need of international reliefassistance, and donors mustneed to step up their efforts nowimmediately.
