Guardian | Harvest should be the time for celebrations, weddings and full bellies in southern Malawi.
But Christopher Witimani, Lilian Matafle and their seven children and
four grandchildren had nothing to celebrate last week as they picked
their meagre maize crop.
Last year’s drought, followed by erratic rains, hit the village of
Nkhotakota hard. But this year the rains never came and, for a second
year running, the family grain store is empty. If they manage their
savings carefully and eat just one small meal a day, they may just have
enough food for two more months.
By August, said Irish charity Concern Worldwide,
they and tens of thousands of other small farmers in southern Malawi
will have completely run out of food, with no prospect of another
harvest for at least seven months. With nothing to sell and no chance of
earning money, Witimani, Matafle and family will starve.
“I am worried the children will starve to death. I don’t know what to do,” said Matafle.
“We need food. We are in a desperate situation,” her husband added.
Countries are just waking up to the most serious global food crisis of the last 25 years. Caused by the strongest El Niño weather event
since 1982, droughts and heatwaves have ravaged much of India, Latin
America and parts of south-east Asia. But the worst effects of this
natural phenomenon, which begins with waters warming in the equatorial
Pacific, are to be found in southern Africa. A second consecutive year
without rain now threatens catastrophe for some of the poorest people in
the world.
The scale of the crisis unfolding in 10 or more southern African countries has shocked the United Nations.
Lulled into thinking that Ethiopia in 1985 was the last of the
large-scale famines affecting many millions, donor countries have been
slow to pledge funds or support. More than $650m and 7.9m tonnes of food
are needed immediately, says the UN. By Christmas, the situation will
have become severe.
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