ADDENDUM TO THE SADC REGIONAL HUMANITARIAN APPEAL RESPONSE TO THE EL NIÑO-INDUCED DROUGHT AND FLOODS, NOVEMBER 2024
This document provides updates on the SADC Regional Humanitarian Appeal: Response to El Niño-Induced Drought and Floods launched in May 2024. It highlights the results of the various analyses and studies carried out in the different Member States following the appeal, the information available on key achievements in implementing the response interventions, as well as the need to prepare for possible future climatic events, including La Niña.
1.OVERVIEW OF THE EL NIÑO IMPACT IN SOUTHERN AFRICA
While the 2023/2024 El Niño event has officially ended, its impact persists throughout the region. The event, one of the five strongest in recent history, brought floods to Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Tanzania, and one of the worst droughts on record to the rest of the region.
1.1 The El Niño-induced drought
The drought caused widespread harvest failure and livestock deaths. Over large parts of Central and Southern Africa, February 2024 was the driest on record and was accompanied by a severe heat wave. Dry spells impacted crop development, leaving the most affected communities with no harvest at all. To date, seven Southern African countries – Botswana, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe - have declared national disasters, while Madagascar declared a disaster due to a combination of impacts from drought and tropical cyclones. Angola and Mozambique are also experiencing severe impacts of drought, including food insecurity.
While the El Niño-induced drought and floods were not the sole driver of food insecurity in the region, the phenomenon was the primary driver of the significant increase in food insecurity recorded this year. In total, 71 million are currently food insecure, representing 17.9 per cent of the region’s total population, which is 24.2 per cent higher than last year. The most significant increases in the number of people food insecure were registered in Zambia (222 per cent), Namibia (106 per cent), Zimbabwe (80 per cent), and Botswana (61 per cent).
The extended dry conditions led to widespread crop failure and reduced yields across the region, particularly affecting cereal crops that are most susceptible to water deficits.
Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe all declared states of national disaster due to the drought.
Maize harvests for 10 SADC Member States were around 28.1 million tonnes, which is 9 per cent lower than the five-year average. Key maize-producing countries in the region such as South Africa and Zambia recorded reduced maize production due to the impact of the El Niño drought coupled with damage from Fall armyworm (FAW) in Zambia.
The most-affected maize production areas were central and southern Mozambique, central and southern Malawi, eastern, central, southern and eastern Zambia, most of Zimbabwe, and northeastern Namibia. Only South Africa and Tanzania reported a surplus for the 2024/25 consumption year while the rest of Member States reported a deficit. In line with the decision of the Extra-Ordinary Summit of Heads of State and Government held in May 2024, Member States with a surplus were urged to prioritize trading of cereal with other SADC Member States with deficits; the United Republic of Tanzania traded with DRC and Zambia.
According to the UN Children Fund (UNICEF), in Lesotho, Malawi, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe, 7.4 million children are living in child food poverty. This is now exacerbated across large parts of Southern Africa due to drought.
While food may be available on the market, prices are high across the region. In September, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) issued domestic price warnings for maize in South Africa and Zambia, with prices 48 per cent and 55 per cent higher compared to the previous year, respectively. The annual food inflation rate in Angola continued to rise in June reaching 35 per cent, i.e. 25 percentage points above the rate in June 2023. There are concerns that communities are resorting to negative coping mechanisms, such as selling their animals and other productive assets, leading to financial loss and increasing poverty. At the same time livestock deaths are being recorded across the region, due to reduced water availability and fodder following the severe 2023/24 drought.