UN: Southern Africa Food Shortages Worsen
Oct 20, 9:52 AM EDT
HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) — The United Nations deputy humanitarian chief says
food shortages are “a chronic problem” in southern Africa and more than 5.5
million people in eight countries need aid this year, a 40 percent increase
compared to 2011.
Catherine Bragg, winding up a five-day southern Africa trip Saturday, said
worsening food shortages are the result of drought or floods and rising
world food prices.
In Zimbabwe, 1.6 million people are affected by food shortages and many
rural families have begun selling village livestock, often kept as a symbol
of status and wellbeing, to cope with the “dire situation,” Bragg said.
A decade of seizures of commercial farms has disrupted food production in
Zimbabwe, a former regional breadbasket.
Food shortages are also particularly acute in Lesotho, Malawi and Swaziland,
Bragg said.