El Niño ebbs after summer of despair

The phenomenon shift comes not a moment too soon after an update made available this week shows over 9,000 drought-related reported cattle deaths in Botswana, Namibia, Zambia, and Zimbabwe between October 2023 and February 2024.

“A record mid-season dry spell of over 30 days has affected vast parts of the region including Angola, Botswana, DRC, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Zambia, and Zimbabwe,” SADC researchers stated. “These areas have received the lowest rainfall for the late-January/February timeframe in at least 40 years.”