14/10/2005
Time Running Out To Save Southern Africa From Famines

According to the UN's emergency food arm, time is running out to bring help to 12 million people in Southern Africa who rest on the brink of famine. Calling on donors “to open their hearts at this most critical time,” WFP Deputy Executive Director Sheila Sisulu said the agency needed $185 million to feed the hungry in Lesotho, Swaziland, Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia and Zimbabwe. The situation is particularly acute in Malawi where 5 million people face the toughest ‘hunger season’ in more than a decade.

“It is deplorable that enough donations only come in when images of emaciated African children starving in large numbers start appearing on television screens around the world,” she said. “Hunger doesn’t have to be inevitable in Africa but once food needs start to peak, it will be too late for many of the weakest, especially children, and the cost of saving lives will escalate significantly,” she added.

For Malawi alone WFP still needs $76 million to feed up to 2.9 million people before the next harvest in April/May 2006. “Malawi is not a repeat of Niger… yet. There is still a chance to help the most vulnerable,” she said referring to the food crisis that killed thousands in Niger earlier this year.

“If we all act now, there is no reason why the situation should deteriorate further. But the world should be under no illusion, the clock is ticking and the outlook is bleak. We need money pledged now to feed the hungriest in a few months’ time.”

Over the past six months, WFP and other aid agencies have warned of an imminent food crisis in Malawi and the rest of Southern Africa. It can take up to six months for donor pledges to WFP to appear as food aid on the ground in southern Africa.