El Nino: Eyes to the skies

The numbers are staggering. At least 41 million citizens in the region need food aid and approximately 23 million of these are in ‘urgent need’ of assistance.  Technocrats at SADC level say thanks to El Nino, the region has a 7.9 million tonne cereal deficit, while nearly 500,000 drought-related livestock deaths have been recorded this year.

At the vanguard of Khama’s appeals are five countries - Lesotho, Malawi, Namibia, Swaziland and Zimbabwe – which have already declared drought emergencies. For the first time since 2002, SADC will require global humanitarian assistance and this time, those at risk of starvation are nearly three times the 2002 figure.