With rainfall far below normal and the growing season advancing this year, southern Africa will increasingly deplete its food supplies and cash reserves to buy food, said the World Food Program. The UN agency estimated 14 million people “are facing hunger following prolonged dry spells that led to a poor harvest last year … the outlook is alarming.” Particularly vulnerable are the small farmers who account for the bulk of agricultural output, it said.
“Worst affected in the region by last year’s poor rains are Malawi (2.8 million people facing hunger), Madagascar (nearly 1.9 million people) and Zimbabwe (1.5 million) where last year’s harvest was reduced by half compared to the previous year because of massive crop failure,” said WFP. “In Lesotho, the government last month declared a drought emergency and some 650,000 people – one third of the population – do not have enough food.” Angola, Mozambique and Swaziland also are areas of WFP concern. “I’m particularly concerned that smallholders won’t be able to harvest enough crops to feed their own families through the year, let alone to sell what little they can in order to cover school fees and other household needs,” said WFP executive director Ertharin Cousin.
In Johannesburg, the price for white corn, a staple food, topped 5,000 rand a tonne for the first time, reports Agrimoney. It said the spot price for white maize rose 2 percent, to 5,065 rand, and contracts for March delivery hit 5,106 rand, up 2.4 percent. The country faces the second poor crop in a row.