Drought threatens over 500 000

While the government has still not declared an official drought emergency in Namibia the Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) has identified Namibia as one of the high-priority countries where emergency and recovery responses are urgently needed.
According to one of its latest reports with regards to the El Niño the FAO says the drought is one of the worst in Namibia’s history, severely affecting more than 1.5 million people who rely on subsistence farming, while more than 500 000 people are food insecure.
It says that approximately N$33.3 million (US$2.3 million) is required to assist 50 000 households in the country.
Priorities include vegetable seed and fertiliser distribution, drought-tolerant seed production, small-scale irrigation initiatives, supplementary feed for livestock, fodder production, restocking; animal health interventions and rehabilitating water points through cash-for-work initiatives.
According to the report the 2015-2016 El Niño cycle which has been described as a global crisis has been one of the strongest on record and has had significant impacts on agricultural production and food security across the globe.
At present, the agriculture, food security and nutritional status of 60 million people are affected by El Niño-related droughts, floods and extreme hot and cold weather.
According to the FAO El Niño is likely to decline in strength over the coming months, and forecast models indicate a return to an El Niño neutral state during the second quarter of 2016, but that does not mean that the danger has passed.
“Harvests in several parts of the world have already failed and are forecast to fail in others, which will result in a dramatic increase in acute household food insecurity,” says the FAO.
The situation is critical with more than 30 million people food insecure in Southern Africa.
The FAO further warns that this number is projected to rise as a direct result of the poor seasonal rains from the 2015-2016 El Niño event.
Drier than average conditions are expected to continue, increasing the possibility of reduced maize production. Drought emergencies have been declared in Lesotho, Malawi, Swaziland and Zimbabwe.
In addition, seven of South Africa’s nine provinces, which account for almost 90% of the country’s maize production, have been declared drought disaster areas.
It says that in Malawi, 2.8 million people are predicted to be food insecure and over 47% of children under the age of five are malnourished.
In Mozambique, the government estimates that the population affected by food insecurity could reach 1.8 million in 2016, while in Zambia 800 000 people cannot meet their basic food needs.
The FAO says that in Namibia the vulnerability assessment for 2015/16 indicates that 578 480 people (almost a quarter of the total population) are currently food insecure.
“Food security conditions have weakened, with most households having already depleted their stocks from last year’s harvest and have become dependent on market supplies and the Government’s Drought Relief Food Programme.”
Overall, cereal production in 2016 is provisionally forecast at 75 000 tons, based on a Government-led assessment in February, putting this year’s crop at 33% below the five-year average. The poor seasonal rains have also negatively impacted on pasture growth and water availability, resulting in a deterioration of livestock body conditions.
The report further says that many farmers in the north-central, north-western, central and the southern parts have reported increased livestock deaths because of the drought.
Veld fires have also contributed to a reduction in the availability of grazing.

ELLANIE SMIT