Drought caused by El Nino leaves southern Africa's poor to starve

Updated

'We just live day to day': Drought leaves Africa's poor to starve

As one of the worst droughts recorded in southern Africa persists, photojournalist Sebastian Rich, who has been documenting the drought in Malawi and Mozambique for UNICEF, writes about how the dry conditions are threatening lives of the region's most vulnerable.

These are the faces of drought and the subsequent relentless famine it has triggered in Malawi.

Hunger, malnutrition and disease continue to increase following the severe dry weather spawned by the El Nino, one of the strongest on record.

In the worst-hit regions of eastern and southern Africa, over 26 million children are suffering, including more than 1 million who need extremely urgent treatment for severe acute malnutrition.

In the swirling dust bowl that is the village of Mytayamangta in the Chikwawa district of Malawi, I recently met Makia, 15 years old, but already a mother of four.

Her children, Dado, 5, Nyamithi, 3, Konja, 16 months, and Kativa, 3 months, are literally knocking on death's door.

There is no other way to say this: they have no food. None.

The children's father has abandoned his family. When asked about her husband's whereabouts, a look that is a combination of apathy and mild disgust claims Makia's gentle features.

The drought has forced them to eat the only thing they can get their hands on — the tasteless boiled root of a water lily with no nutritional value.

It is also incredibly dangerous for this young mother and her family to gather, as the receding waters where it grows are crocodile-infested.

A cholera outbreak has also hit the country.

The family have eaten nothing but this root for four months now and it is also becoming scarce as the whole village comes to rely on it as their sole food supply.

All of Makia's children have severe acute malnutrition, with Konja the hardest-hit.

I gently held Konja's hand in a vain attempt to comfort her as she whimpered softly in her mother's arms, her skin the texture of dried autumn leaves.

Konja cannot walk because of the pain in her joints and is wasting at an alarming rate.

The nearest clinic is kilometres away and the whole family are too exhausted and weak from hunger to attempt the journey.

UNICEF is warning that while the El Nino may be over, the impact in Malawi and neighbouring Mozambique is deepening.

In Zambia, Zimbabwe and Lesotho the drought has also led to food shortages, while in South Africa, the country has been struggling with the consequences of the worst drought in a century.

Makia told me as I left: "We just live day to day, what can we do."

More stories from Sebastian Rich Conflicts of interest: Rich's tales of life in some of the world's deadliest places.

'Infectious and innocent' smiles from children in war zones



Topics: drought, disasters-and-accidents, diseases-and-disorders, health, malawi, mozambique, south-africa, zimbabwe, lesotho

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