The dire situation in Southern Africa, aggravated by severe drought conditions, is putting the lives of nearly 300,000 children at risk due to severe acute malnutrition (SAM), as highlighted by UNICEF.
The looming humanitarian crisis is largely attributed to El Niño-related weather anomalies, which have resulted in significantly low rainfall across the region.
This climatic event has prompted six nations—Botswana, Malawi, Namibia, Lesotho, Zambia, and Zimbabwe—to declare states of national food disaster as they grapple with the widespread impacts of food scarcity.
UNICEF’s Regional Director for Eastern and Southern Africa, Etleva Kadilli, emphasized the alarming humanitarian needs that children are facing. “The escalating food insecurity, coupled with severe malnutrition, challenges in accessing safe water and sanitation, and heightened risks of disease outbreaks such as cholera, pose a grave threat to child health and development,” she stated.
Among them, over 2 million children are reportedly surviving on extremely poor diets, often comprising just two food groups at best. This nutritional inadequacy has been severely exacerbated by the ongoing drought, which has further strained already vulnerable food systems.
In Zimbabwe, specifically, the crisis is particularly acute. Approximately 580,000 young children are living in conditions of severe food poverty, with projections indicating that this number may rise as the El Niño-induced drought persists.
In response to this escalating situation, UNICEF is actively collaborating with the Government of Zimbabwe and national partners to safeguard dietary diversity and improve child feeding practices.
Without immediate action, the potential consequences are dire , not only for individual children but for the future of entire communities.
SOURCE : NEWSREPORTZIM.COM
