Southern Africa: 12 million people are food insecure

The lean season has begun in Southern Africa and nearly 12 million people are severely food insecure.

Many people are unable to access clean water, and girls and women are reportedly being forced to resort to negative coping strategies, including early marriage, transactional sex and trafficking.

Three districts in Zambia and nine in Zimbabwe, along with more than 60 percent of communes assessed in three provinces of southern Angola, are projected to face emergency levels of food insecurity.

Levels of acute malnutrition have risen in multiple countries, particularly Zimbabwe, and more than 1,000 cases of a micronutrient deficiency have been reported in Cyclone Idai-affected areas of Mozambique.

Livestock deaths, particularly in Mozambique, Namibia and Zimbabwe, have also been reported.

The Southern Africa region is experiencing the effects of the climate crisis, with warming at about twice the global rate. Below-average rains are being recorded in many areas and cyclones are expected in others, foreboding a potential second consecutive poor harvest.

Original source: UNOCHA
Published on 13 November 2019