by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent
(Worthy News) – Appealing to the international community for assistance, the 16-nation Southern African Development Community has warned that some 68 million people in southern Africa are facing food shortages and damaged economies due to a drought brought on by the El Nino phenomenon, Reuters reports.
El Nino is a climate pattern involving the unusual warming of surface waters in the eastern tropical Pacific Ocean.
Affecting numerous countries including Zimbabwe, Zambia, and Malawi, the drought began at the beginning of this year and has destroyed vast swathes of crops, impacting livestock production as well, Reuters said.
The leaders of the SADC nations have met in Harare, Zimbabwe to discuss the crisis, Reuters reports. “The 2024 rainy season has been a challenging one with most parts of the region experiencing negative effects of the El Nino phenomenon characterised by the late onset of rains,” Elias Magosi, SADC executive secretary, said in a statement.
Confirming that only part of the $5.5 billion in aid requested by SADC in May, outgoing SADC chair Joao Lourenco, President of Angola, told the summit: “The amount mobilised so far is unfortunately below the estimated amounts and I would like to reiterate this appeal to regional and international partners to redouble their efforts… to help our people who have been affected by El Nino.”
Copyright 1999-2024 Worthy News. This article was originally published on Worthy News and was reproduced with permission.
Latest News from Worthy News
A massive barrage of Israeli airstrikes hit Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon just after the terrorist group’s leader declared that two days of intense hybrid bombings, including the detonation of pagers and walkie-talkies targeting Hezbollah forces, amounted to a declaration of war.
Facing relentless violence against their communities by Islamic jihadist terror groups, 16.2 million Christians in sub-Saharan Africa have now been forced to flee their homes and live in poverty-stricken Internally Displaced People (IDP) camps, the Christian Post (CP) reports.
A Pakistani court has sentenced Shagufta Kiran, a Christian mother of four, to death for “committing blasphemy against Islam,” a senior Christian advocacy activist told Worthy News Thursday.
Amid Israel’s ongoing war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has reiterated that the kingdom would not recognize Israel without the establishment of a Palestinian state, the Times of Israel reports. The Crown Prince made his remarks during an annual speech to the advisory Shura Council on Wednesday (September 18).
Taiwanese company Gold Apollo says that the pager model allegedly used by Hezbollah members that simultaneously exploded and killed numerous people, mainly in Lebanon, was made by its Hungarian partner.
Israel has condemned an adopted United Nations resolution demanding that all Israeli forces and civilians pull out of Palestinian areas within a year. The resolution also called for an embargo on arms that Israel might use in those areas.
Israel’s atomic chief has warned that Syria built an undeclared nuclear facility after Iran, which he said has “in alarming amounts conducting covert nuclear activities.”