Southern African countries plagued by food insecurity: WFP

The World Food Programme (WFP) on Thursday said in Johannesburg, Southern African countries continue to face food insecurity owing to the El Nino effects.

Over 32 million people in Southern Africa require food assistance between April 2016 to March 2017.

There is a shortfall of 677 million U.S. dollars to cater for the people in need of food, the WFP noted.

The number is likely to rise since governments and social partners including the WFP are currently conducting food needs assessments which would be released early next month, said Andrew Odero, the WFP regional food security analysis advisor.

"There is an extension of lean season owing to the unprecedented El Nino phenomena. We have had two consecutive bad years with no harvest in many countries like Malawi," he said.

Odero told Xinhua the worsening macro-economic situation makes it difficult for the governments to do more.

He added that the depreciation of the local currencies makes it more expensive to buy and import food.

"Water levels in many Southern African countries like South Africa, Lesotho, Malawi and Mozambique are below 30 percent. We have some other countries like Swaziland as low as five percent," Odero said.

He stated that countries like Zambia and Zimbabwe which relies on hydro power for electricity will be hit hard.

The Zimbabwean WFP representative and country director, Eddie Rowe told Xinhua that the country's requirement in food and animal feeds is 1.8 million metric tones.

Coco Ushiyama, the WFP representative in Malawi, said the country requires speed recovery assistance and resilience building.

She said Malawi is one of those hit hard by the El Nino, 90 percent of the needs were met by the government and social partners.

Ushiyama said China has pledged to assist with 9 million U.S. dollars donation of rice.

According to WEF, the number of people who needs food assistance is expected to increase because the dry season will continue. Endit