Johannesburg, 21 January 2020 – At least five Southern African countries have suffered severe droughts for months. Instead of a relief, rains over the weekend in Malawi, Mozambique and Zimbabwe have come as a disaster, which the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) warns can leave more than 2.3 million people severely food insecure.
“We stand in solidarity with the people in Malawi, Mozambique and Zimbabwe as they try to recover from the devastating torrential rains. It is impossible for people, infrastructure and agricultural lands to withstand the increasingly severe onslaught of extreme weather events due to the climate crisis. We cannot simply accept that topsoil is being lost, crops are being ruined in areas already facing food shortages after severe drought, economies are likely to spiral into hyperinflation and that people are dying and losing their homes and incomes. This cannot be a fait accompli. When we know what the solutions to the climate crisis are, we just need to put them into action,” said Melita Steele, Senior Climate and Energy Campaign Manager for Greenpeace Africa.
“By now, any farmer in Zimbabwe, Zambia or Mozambique knows the climate crisis better than any scientist or Greenpeace activist. The vicious cycle of droughts and floods is clear. It’s time for Africa’s leaders to prove that they are prepared to take bold action to counter the climate crisis,” Steele concluded.
[1] Before the floods, more than 2.3 million people were expected to be severely food insecure during the lean season (October 2019 – March 2020), with at least 430,000 of them in Emergency (IPC 4): https://reliefweb.int/report/zambia/zambia-floods-flash-update-no-1-16-january-2020Some districts were already facing “emergency (IPC Phase 4) levels of food insecurity due to the worst drought the country has seen since 1981”: http://floodlist.com/africa/zambia-floods-in-southern-province
[2] http://floodlist.com/africa/zimbabwe-floods-matabeleland-north-january-2020
http://floodlist.com/africa/mozambique-floods-cabo-delgado-january-2020
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