Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema last week declared the drought a national disaster — an estimated 45% of planted areas have been destroyed just as the staple corn crop should be maturing.
A swathe of southern Africa suffered the driest February in decades that wiped out crops, precipitated power shortages and threatened to send already high food prices surging further.
The dry spell, blamed on the El Niño weather phenomenon, is the latest indicator of how severely Africa is being impacted by extreme weather events that scientists say are becoming increasingly frequent and severe because of climate change — even though it produces far less global-warming gases than developed regions.
The cost of corn in Zambia surged an average 76% in February from a year ago. In neighbouring Zimbabwe, US dollar prices for the cereal have shown a similar increase since December alone, according to the Famine Early Warning Systems Network. In some areas, prices doubled within three months. “Food supply constraints brought on by dry conditions will place upward pressure on inflation in the region in 2024,” said Yvonne Mhango, Africa Economist at Bloomberg Economics. “This will likely mean high rates for longer.”
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