A number of countries wrestling with the impact of El Niño have still recorded decent macro-economic growth rates, but food price inflation means those benefits are rarely felt by ordinary citizens. But UNICEF has noted that malnutrition has increased over the past three years in four out of the country’s six regions, where rates already exceeded emergency levels. [7] El Niño events in Southern Africa also increase the likelihood of African armyworm outbreaks, further decreasing the region's agricultural output. UNICEF plans to reach 450,000 children this year with nutritional support. As those areas are deprived of water, the plant and animal life suffer. Climate change can be traced down to human activity; deforestation, global warming, our dependency on fossil fuels, and many other things have been attributed to contributing to climate change.

URL: Famine Early Warning System Network. The 2016 drought scorched Swaziland, leaving an estimated 638,251 people in need of aid. The alert level was reduced to the Orange-1.7 by 12 December 2019, as the new wet season had started. when cattle graze on a particular land excessively, it is called overgrazing.

Farmers, traders and consumers across East and Southern Africa are feeling the impact of consecutive seasons of drought that have scorched harvests and ruined livelihoods. Half of all Somalis are facing acute food insecurity. [1] The alert level was reduced to the Orange-1.7 by 12 December 2019, as the new wet season had started. [4], The Southern African climate is affected by strong seasonal rainfall patterns; the majority of the region's annual rainfall is deposited by storms from early November to March, forming what is considered Southern Africa's wet season. Drought is fast becoming a natural phenomenon in parts of East and South Africa. As it happened in Namibia a few years ago the lack of rainfall caused the death of much of the wildlife, as the drought killed the grasses, it greatly depleted the grazing animals that depend on it for survival. El Ninos typically occur within 4-year cycles, although they have also been noted to occur within 3 to 7 years cycles as well. As of mid-August 2019, the drought is classified as a level 2 Red-Class event by the Global Disaster Alert and Coordination System. The impact of last month’s cyclone Dineo is expected to add an additional 300,000 to those in need. That currently applies only to South Sudan, but could also include Somalia if the emergency response falters. Food insecurity is also driven by conflict, particularly in Darfur, South Kordofan and Blue Nile. This leads to excessive farming. Food aid and seeds are urgently needed. Climate change causes drought all over the world, not just in Africa. Sometimes drought can be caused by natural phenomenon, but other times it can also be caused by human activity. Even though in this case there may still be some rainfall, there may not be enough to sustain life. Also due to overpopulation, not enough land is available for farming. Maize, cassava and rice production dropped by as much as 95 percent in the south of the country last year. “But the start point is recognition of the unsustainability of a relentless rise in the cost of food throughout Africa; and the fact that while droughts and conflict may create price spikes, the root causes of this phenomenon lie with government.”. With good rains this season, an average harvest is forecast. In the worst cases, where conflict has made farming impossible and reduced humanitarian access, there will be famine. There are a number of strategies governments could adopt to address the situation: from improving the tradability of food, to coordinated climate change adaptation strategies, to meeting the African Union target of allocating 15 percent of budget spending to agriculture. Conditions are also bad around Arua in the northwest. Cause of the Drought From November to March, Africa experiences its wet season. Food stocks are critically low in northeastern Karamoja.

Djibouti is one of the world’s most arid countries. [9] As of the start of the 2018-19 ongoing El Niño-induced drought, some parts of Southern Africa had not yet recovered from the effects of the earlier drought.
Reduced moisture in the atmosphere can result in less than average rainfall. There are growing reports of conflict as a result of displacement and water shortages. Trees have the ability to send their roots deep down into the earth, thus drawing up water into their leaves. Emergency Response Coordination Centre (ERCC) – DG ECHO Daily Map | 29/01/2019.

Media reports said that between 50,000 and, Sudan experiences unpredictable rainfall and desertification.
By breaking the wind, they can make the moisture-laden are concentrate and condensate, thereby causing precipitation. The 2015 El Niño event was particularly severe and continued to be felt in the east of the country in 2016.

Whether caused by human activity, or by natural causes, there are steps that can be taken to reduce the effects, thus sustaining natural life, as well as social and economic activity. On the African continent, there is very little development, and the reliance on agriculture for survival is very high. In Africa, climate change is evident in disruption of weather patterns; lack of rainfall, or too much rainfall. When this water is no longer available, it will disrupt the water cycle of the particular area, as the moisture-laden air which is supposed to be carried down to the plains will no longer be available. [20] 17 March 2020 the black market of stolen water was reported in Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality amidst emergency-related corruption concerns.[21]. Farmers and herders found their resilience tested to the limit last year. They have very limited resources left to cope with the current crisis. The rainfall forecast is for average to above-normal rains, but household productivity is expected to be lower than normal. “No miraculous discoveries are required,” suggest Adams and Paice. ( ©UNICEF Ethiopia/2017/Nahom Tesfaye), ‘We will all have to deal with this new way of working.’, ‘I don’t want to let my children live the same experiences.’. Half of Malawi’s rural population – 6.7 million people – are receiving food aid after two consecutive years of drought. PDF: Global Disaster Alert and Coordination System, United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality, "Overall Red Drought alert for Southern Africa-2018 in Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, Swaziland, South Africa, Zimbabwe from 11 Oct 2018 00:00 UTC to 15 Feb 2019 00:27 UTC", Overall Orange alert Drought for Southern Africa-2018, "Overall Red alert Drought for Southern Africa-2018 in Angola, Botswana, Congo, DRC, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe", "Southern Africa | Drought Situtation – Emergency Response Coordination Centre (ERCC) – DG ECHO Daily Map | 29/01/2019 - Zimbabwe", http://www.gdacs.org/contentdata/maps/daily/DR/1012728/ECDM_20190129_Southern_Africa_Drought.pdf, "Africa to suffer major blackouts as climate change dries up hydropower dams, scientists warn", "Southern Africa: Humanitarian Key Messages, November 2018 - Malawi", "FAO in the 2019 humanitarian appeal: 2018/19 El Niño Response Plan for Southern Africa - Zimbabwe", "Southern Africa: Drought Coming for SADC", "FAO Warns Southern Africa to Prepare for Drought", https://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/ca3071en_0.pdf, "GIEWS Update: Southern Africa - Dry weather conditions reduce agricultural production prospects in 2019 (22 January 2019) - Madagascar", "Southern Africa Food Security Alert: February 1, 2019 - Zimbabwe", https://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/GlobalWeatherHazard-19.02.15.pdf, "Hunger in Africa continues to rise, says New UN report", "UN raises alarm on drought crisis in SADC || The Southern Times", "Namibia declares national state of emergency over drought", Two years later, SA’s drought has just been declared a national emergency – again, Report: Corruption fuels Water Shortage in South Africa, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=2018–20_Southern_Africa_drought&oldid=978373634, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 14 September 2020, at 14:43. TOP PHOTO: Sadeh Abdihayi tends to her livestock at a temporary settlement outside Al Bahi kebele, Ethiopia. Required fields are marked *. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. [2] As of September 2020, the drought is classified as a level 2 Red-Class event. A weekly read to keep you in the loop on humanitarian issues. Eritrea strictly controls humanitarian access, so the extent of the crisis is difficult to gauge. But cash crop farmers are expected to see a fall in income this season after reducing the area they planted. Cape Town drought a 'national disaster' The announcement came as the city revealed "Day Zero", when it will run out of water, is delayed. Join us now as we review the top causes of drought in Africa. Displacement, malnutrition and drought-related diseases are all on the rise, and famine could be declared in parts of the country.