Food Security

Southern Africa faced widespread drought from the October 2018 to March 2019 rainy season, with less than 55 percent of normal rainfall totals, alerts FEWS. The 2018-2019 rainfall began a month late, triggering extended dry spells between January and March. The historically low rainfall totals affected areas of Botswana, northern Zimbabwe, eastern Namibia, southern Angola, and the surplus producing areas of northern South Africa and southern Zambia, and registered a D3 (Extreme) or a D4 (Exceptional) drought as per the United States Drought Monitor classification scale.

This piece originally appeared on the A4NH blog.

This post originally appeared on IFPRI.org.

Southern Africa could face an early start to the 2019-2020 lean season and abnormally high food assistance needs, according to a new alert from FEWS Net . Due to a significant delay in the start of the rainy season and predicted below-average precipitation through March, the region is likely to experience cumulative seasonal rainfall significantly below average. This deficit may negatively impact maize production, livestock conditions, and agricultural labor opportunities in the region.

Populations around the world continue to struggle with malnutrition – both undernourishment and overweight/obesity – and climate change may exacerbate the problem. In addition to reducing overall agricultural yields, higher temperatures and erratic precipitation could increase spoilage of nutritious and perishable foods like fruits and vegetables. Climate change could even make foods themselves less nutritious; increased CO2 levels can reduce the protein content of certain crops, such as soybeans and grains.