Several countries, including Lesotho, Malawi, Namibia, Zambia, and Zimbabwe, have declared states of national disaster in recent months as the drought ravages crops and livestock. Angola and Mozambique are also heavily affected, according to the UN’s World Food Programme (WFP), which cautioned that the situation is likely to worsen until the next harvests, expected in March or April.
“A historic drought – the worst food crisis yet – has devastated more than 27 million lives across the region,” said WFP spokesperson Tomson Phiri. “Some 21 million children are malnourished.”
