Millions of people across Southern Africa face starvation due to historic drought

Millions of people across Southern Africa are going hungry due to a historic drought, risking a full-scale humanitarian catastrophe, the United Nations has warned.

Lesotho, Malawi, Namibia, Zambia, and Zimbabwe have all declared a state of national disaster in the past months as the drought has destroyed crops and livestock.

Angola and Mozambique are also severely affected, the UN’s World Food Programme (WFP) said warning that the crisis is expected to deepen until the next harvests in March or April 2025.

“A historic drought – the worst food crisis yet – has devastated more than 27 million lives across the region,” WFP spokesperson Tomson Phiri said. “Some 21 million children are malnourished.

“October in Southern Africa marks the start of the lean season, and each month is expected to be worse than the previous one until harvests next year in March and April. Crops have failed, livestock have perished, and children are lucky to receive one meal per day.”

Tens of millions of people in the region rely on small-scale agriculture, irrigated by rain, for their food and to make money to buy provisions. WaterAid’s Regional Director, Robert Kampala said: “The dry season is tightening its grip across Southern Africa, putting millions of lives are at risk – and water is the key to survival.

"Once a community has a reliable water supply, people can grow food, children can be healthy and look to the future - instead of dreading it. World leaders must see this as a wake-up call and put water at the heart of all climate adaptation and financial decision making at COP29 and beyond – no one can adapt to a without water.”

The organisation says where there is water, there is hope. The Nteme community, south-west of Lusaka, has been able to overcome the many challenges posed by the drought by having access to its own clean water supply which it can ration between households and farmers. The installation of a water tower by WaterAid has been key.

Andrew Mazuba, a farmer in charge of the rationing process, said: “I’ve lived in this community for almost 15 years and accessing water has always been a struggle. For the past three years, we've barely had enough rainfall. Last season was particularly bad. The groundwater levels have dropped due to the drought and the nearby dams where we take our animals to drink are dry.

“When clean water isn’t available, it has a severe impact on the community. Health suffers, with outbreaks of waterborne diseases being common. Without enough water, it’s hard for people to maintain their gardens and food production declines.

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“Water has to be rationed because there's not enough to meet everyone’s needs. The community is benefiting in many ways — people have smaller gardens now, and the distances to access water have reduced. If this system continues to work as intended, it will help us to continue to combat the effects of the drought."