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SOUTHERN AFRICA / FOOD SHORTAGES
STORY: SOUTHERN AFRICA / FOOD SHORTAGES
TRT: 2.38
SOURCE: WFP
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: CHICHEWA / NATS
DATELINE: 29 NOVEMBER 2012, ZIMBABWE / 21 NOVEMBER 2012, MALAWI / 15 NOVEMBER 2012, LESOTHO / FILE
21 NOVEMBER 2012, BLANTYRE, MALAWI
1. Various shots, women carrying goods on their heads walking on a road
2. Wide shot, hut
3. Various shot, Saukila Black preparing soil
4. SOUNDBITE (Chichewa) Saukila Black, farmer:
“We had problems this year the rain has been so erratic. We planted in the first place and the crops dried out. We planted the second time again it didn’t go and we planted the third time with no results.”
21 NOVEMBER 2012, LILONGWE, MALAWI
5. Med shot, UKAID food distribution point
6. Various shots, people taking their food aid
21 NOVEMBER 2012, LUNZU MARKET, MALAWI
7. Wide shot, Lunzu market
8. Med shot, post Lunzu market
9. Wide shot, Lunzu Market with people buying goods
10. Med shot, market scene
11. Med shot, market post
12. Wide shot, market scene
15 NOVEMBER 2012, MOHALE’S HOEK DISTRICT LESOTHO
13. Wide shot, huts in the distance
14. Med shot, man tilling the land
15. Med shot, man and women walking
16. Med shot, farmer working on dry land
FILE – JULY 2012, MANICALAND ZIMBABWE
17. Wide shot, dry land
18. Pan left, failed crops
19. Med shot, woman checking land
20. Pan right, failed crop
21. Med shot, man with cattle pushed cart
29 NOVEMBER 2012, SANYATI, ZIMBABWE
22. Wide shot, cash distribution post
23. Pan right, women sitting on the ground
24. Various shots, cash distribution
The World Food Programme (WFP) warned today (30 November) that millions face the prospect of food shortages in drought-hit areas of southern Africa.
In a press release, WFP said it was working with government and partners to scale up efforts to deliver food assistance to more than 3.5 million people in southern Africa. Among the worst affected countries are Malawi, Zimbabwe and Lesotho.
Communities already struggling to feed their families are now bracing for the onset of the so-called hunger season that traditionally lasts from December until harvest time in March.
Erratic rainfall during the last planting season means harvests in many areas have not been sufficient to sustain the nutritional needs of farming communities this year and, even where food is available in local markets, it is often too expensive for the poorest households.
Southern Malawi, southern Zimbabwe, and the southern highlands of Lesotho face particularly severe food shortages. The prices of staples like maize on local markets are unseasonably high. Maize prices have increased 60 percent in the markets of Lesotho since the start of the year. In Malawi, maize prices have risen nearly 80 percent since this time last year.
In southern Malawi WFP is distributing food to more than 1.8 million people living in rural communities. The Malawi government has donated 25,000 metric tons of maize from its Strategic Grain Reserve and has announced plans to release a further 47,500 tons. Other donors like UKAID, USAID and the Kingdom of Norway are also supporting the operation.
In Zimbabwe some 1.6 million vulnerable people, one in five of the rural population, are facing food shortages. While most of these are being assisted through food distributions, some 300,000 people are receiving cash to enable them buy their own cereals from local markets.
In the southern highlands of Lesotho, 200,000 people in farming communities are receiving food from WFP. At the same time, WFP is working with the Government and other UN agencies to find longer-term solutions to the food crisis caused by two consecutive years of crop failures. The current shortfall for WFP’s Lesotho emergency operation is US$4 million.
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