OCHA Update on the Southern Africa Humanitarian Crisis 6 Dec 2002

According to the UN Regional Inter-Agency Coordination Support Office in Johannesburg, farmers and food security specialists in Southern Africa are concerned that the lack of rain in the current planting season could mean another bad harvest for the region. In South Africa, the biggest exporter in and to the region, there had not been enough rain to plant the important crops of maize, wheat, sunflower, sorghum and soya.
The UN's efforts are ongoing to ensure food security through assistance to small farmers in the region. For example, an FAO project for winter cropping in Malawi, assisting small holders, will see 100 MT of maize seed producing around 7,000 MT of maize grain. In Lesotho, seed coverage has picked up well due to a 50% government subsidy on seeds. Also, the Red Cross and UNICEF distributed seeds and tools to the most vulnerable. FAO has provided seeds to the most vulnerable farmers, in total 56,000 kits or 448 tonnes. NGOs and the government are working on distributing inputs to a further 171,000 farmers. Unfortunately, some farmers planted with the early onset of the rains in late October. The absence of rains since has already resulted in crop loss. Farmers in the Southern Region of Malawi have begun to plant after receiving significant amounts of rain. Others are still waiting for the main season rains to start. Farm inputs are readily available, but access to them is limited by lack of purchasing power. The government's Targeted Inputs Program plans to distribute inputs to about 3 million farmers.

Meanwhile in Zimbabwe, the humanitarian crisis in Zimbabwe is deteriorating at a dangerously rapid pace. Reports of children dropping out of school and families resorting to ever more desperate coping mechanisms are increasingly alarming. Levels of malnutrition are worsening, while cases of hunger-related diseases like pellagra are becoming more frequent. At the same time, there is a growing concern that food imports by both the government and humanitarian agencies are falling short of the amounts required until March.

In Zambia as well, data from a UNICEF-supported survey in primary schools shows dramatic declines in school attendance for both boys and girls. A community school in Siavonga district-an area badly affected by the drought-recorded a drop in girls' school attendance from 75 per cent in April 2002 to 17 per cent in September; for boys the decline was from 71 per cent to 24 per cent. The impact of the crisis on school attendance is also corroborated by studies in Malawi that reveal a high correlation between food shortages and increases in dropouts. Some 10 per cent of all male pupils and 10 per cent of girls have not attended school for 20 days or more.

UNICEF reported that its pilot projects in Swaziland show that school dropout has stopped or reversed as a result of school feeding programmes. The Agency is intending to expand its project in the country to include 36,000 children in rural areas. The food will be provided by the WFP and coordinated by UNICEF. Breakfast and lunch will be provided as well as support to the school's vegetable gardens.

For a more comprehensive update on the humanitarian situation, please see the "Southern African Humanitarian Crisis Update" on ReliefWeb. (www.reliefweb.int.)

For further information, please contact:

New York: Brian Grogan (212) 963-1143

Johannesburg: Gabriella Waaidjman (27) 11 517 1624