by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent
(Worthy News) – The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) announced Tuesday that it urgently requires more funding to help millions of people facing food shortages across southern Africa. The shortages are the result of unprecedented drought caused by El Niño, a climate phenomenon that intensifies dry or stormy weather patterns, WFP said.
The WFP noted in a press release that five countries – Lesotho, Malawi, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe – have already declared a state of disaster. The UN agency further highlighted that Angola and Mozambique are suffering intensely.
“While the current El Niño cycle has come to an end, the consequences will be felt for months to come, with the hunger crisis likely to worsen and persist until the next harvest season (April/May 2025),” WFP said. “The crisis is expected to lead to a significant regional food deficit, requiring the import of an estimated 3 million tons of maize. It is also likely to further deepen already high rates of chronic malnutrition and vitamin and mineral deficiencies – a factor associated with poor quality diets and public-health conditions,” the agency asserts.
The WFP is working on delivering food and cash to the hardest-hit areas but said much more funding is necessary. “WFP needs US$369 million to provide food and cash assistance to over 6.5 million people across the region, up to March 2025,” the press release explains.
“Unless we receive additional resources, millions of people risk going through the worst lean season in decades without assistance,” WFP spokesperson Tomson Phiri told reporters.
Copyright 1999-2024 Worthy News. This article was originally published on Worthy News and was reproduced with permission.
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