El Nino Weather Pattern Leaves Millions Hungry in Southern Africa

Aljazeera reports that the  UN has revealed that about  14 million people are facing starvation because of reduced food production, blamed on El Nino weather pattern. About 14 million people in Southern Africa are facing hunger because of last year's poor harvest, caused by the El Nino weather pattern, the World Food Programme says.

In a statement released on Monday, the WFP, which is the UN's food-assistance branch, gave warning that the number of people without enough food is likely to rise further in 2016, as the drought worsens throughout the region.

According to the source, 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," the WFP statement said.

The WFP further said that food prices across Southern Africa have risen sharply because of the reduced production and availability.

"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 Ertharin Cousin, WFP executive director, after a visit to southern Zambia. 

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