Malawi declares a drought crisis as El Nino brings famine to southern Africa
The nation of Malawi in southern Africa has declared a state of disaster due to drought in 23 out of 28 districts. President Lazarus Chakwera of the country bordering Tanzania has said that his country needs more than 200 million dollars in humanitarian aid, less than a month after The neighboring country of Zambia also asked for help.
The President of Malawi has said that he has visited different parts of his country to determine the extent of the drought, and the government's initial assessment has found that approximately 44 percent of Malawi's corn crop has been lost, and 2 million households have been directly affected. He said that the country with 20 million people needs almost 600,000 tons of food aid and called on the international community to deliver aid quickly.
Malawi is the latest country in the region to declare severe food shortages due to a severe dry season linked to El Nino weather.
The third country, Zimbabwe, has also seen many of its crops perish and people in the country are now facing food shortages. The United Nations World Food Program (WFP) at the end of last year announced that many countries in southern Africa were on the brink of starvation due to the effects of El Nino.
The WFP said there are already nearly 50 million people in southern and central Africa facing food insecurity.
Last month was the driest in 40 years for Zambia and Zimbabwe, while Malawi, Mozambique and parts of Angola experienced "significant rainfall deficits."
