Multiple press agencies have carried the dire warning issued by Southern African Development Community (SADC) Executive Director Elias Magosi that tens of millions of people in the Southern Africa region are suffering the effects of an El Niño-induced drought. The drought has collapsed crop output and livestock production, creating food shortages in several countries.
In his speech before the 16 SADC leaders at the summit in Harare, Zimbabwe yesterday, Magosi said that “the 2023/24 rainfall season has been a challenging one with most parts of the region experiencing the negative effects of the El Niño phenomenon, characterized by a late onset of rains, extended mid-season dry spells, and extreme high temperatures.
“As a result of the El Niño an estimated 67.7 million people in the region, representing more than 17% of the regional population, have been negatively affected. I wish to take this opportunity to express our deepest gratitude to the Chairperson of SADC, His Excellency Mr. João Manuel Gonçalves Lourenço, for swiftly convening the Extraordinary Summit on 20 May this year, to discuss the humanitarian situation necessitated by the drought and floods. We are equally grateful to the Chairperson for launching the SADC Regional Humanitarian Appeal amounting to at least $5.5 billion, to support the humanitarian needs and disaster response recovery of the affected population.” (João Lourenço is also President of Angola.)
NASA’s Earth Observatory website notes: “From late January through mid-March, parts of Southern Africa received half or less of their typical rainfall, according to researchers at the Climate Hazards Center (CHC) at the University of California, Santa Barbara. February 2024 was especially dry. “
The website provides a detailed precipitation map of the region, made possible by satellite sensing.
It also described that experts had estimated in March that millions of people face “crisis level” food insecurity in Zimbabwe, Malawi, central Mozambique, and Madagascar. “Crisis level” means that households are not able to meet their minimum food needs without seeking humanitarian food assistance or taking drastic measures, such as selling essential assets.
Although there is “an 85% likelihood of a La Niña developing in late 2024 and early 2025, which is often associated with above-normal precipitation and normal or above-normal maize yields in Southern Africa,” the situation could be mitigated by the implementation of several massive water development projects for the continent of Africa proposed by the Schiller Institute and the LaRouche movement over the decades.