International

8 million people in need of food as severe drought hits Malawi

Published

8 years ago

May 25, 2016

8 million people in need of food as severe drought hits Malawi

The minister of agriculture for Malawi has revealed that more than 8 million of his country men are in need of food and aid as a result of severe drought that has decimated crops and other farm produce.

“The results of this rapid assessment showed that close to 8.4 million people will need food because they have partially or completely lost their crops through El Nino induced dry spells,” Godfrey Chaponda told Reuters.

The amount of people in need of food and aid makes the country one of the worst hit in southern and eastern Africa, where the current drought affects 50 million people, according to United Nation figures.

“I declare Malawi [to be in] a state of national disaster following prolonged dry spells during the 2015/16 agriculture season,” the Malawian President Peter Mutharika said.

“With the increased maize deficit, it is expected that an increased number of people will be food-insecure and will require humanitarian relief assistance for the whole 2016-17 consumption year,” he said.

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