Malawi follows Zambia to declare drought wrought by El Niño

Last month was the driest February in 40 years for Zambia and Zimbabwe, according to the World Food Programme

A sun-baked pool that used to be a perennial water supply is seen in Mana Pools National Park, Zimbabwe, on October 27, 2019. | Photo Credit: Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi/AP

The southern African nation of Malawi has declared a state of disaster over drought in 23 of its 28 districts. Its president has also said Malawi urgently needs more than $200 million in humanitarian assistance, less than a month after neighbouring Zambia also appealed for help.

A third country, Zimbabwe, has also seen much of its crops decimated and is considering following suit and declaring a drought disaster, underscoring concerns raised by the U.N. World Food Programme (WFP) late last year that numerous nations in southern Africa were on the brink of a hunger crisis because of the impact of the ongoing El Niño weather phenomenon.

The WFP said there were already nearly 50 million people in southern and parts of central Africa facing food insecurity even before one of the driest spells in decades hit.

Last month was the driest February in 40 years for Zambia and Zimbabwe, according to the WFP’s seasonal monitor while Malawi, Mozambique, and parts of Angola had “severe rainfall deficits.” Millions in southern Africa rely on the food they grow to survive. Corn, the region’s staple food, has been badly affected by the drought.

El Niño is a natural, recurring weather phenomenon that affects weather worldwide, including causing below-average rainfall in southern Africa. Some scientists say climate change is making El Niños stronger and their impacts more extreme. The 2015-2016 El Niño brought a severe drought for southern Africa, the region’s worst in 35 years, for example.

Before the national disaster announcements by Malawi and Zambia, the WFP and USAID had already launched a program to feed 2.7 million people in rural Zimbabwe facing food shortages — nearly 20% of that country’s population.

British charity Oxfam said this month that more than 6 million people in Zambia — 30% of its population — are now facing acute food shortages and malnutrition, with the next crop growing season a year away.

Malawian President Lazarus Chakwera said he had been on a tour of his country to discover the extent of its drought crisis, and a preliminary assessment by the government found about 44% of Malawi’s corn crop had failed or been affected, and 2 million households were directly impacted. Malawi has been repeatedly hit by weather extremes in recent years.

In early 2022, tropical storms and floods contributed to Malawi’s worst outbreak of the water-borne disease, cholera. More than 1,200 people died in the outbreak that lasted for months, according to the World Health Organisation.

Zambia is also currently experiencing a major cholera outbreak as well.