By Inès Magoum
Drought has been undermining food security in Namibia for several years. About 350,000 people are threatened by hunger in the country. The Namibian government has recently begun working with the World Food Programme (WFP) to provide an effective response to the risk of famine threatening the country.
Namibia, a country with an arid climate in southern Africa, is facing one of the worst droughts in its history. According to Namibia’s Prime Minister, Saara Kuugongelwa, “in different parts of the country, drought has damaged farmland and pastures”. She says 350,000 people are at risk of starvation due to the drought. Most areas are suffering from water shortages. Watersheds are virtually dry. They did not receive enough water during the last rainy season. In this context of food insecurity, the Namibian government has requested the intervention of the World Food Programme (WFP) to provide an urgent response to the risk of famine in the country.
International community intervention
Namibia has a population of 2.4 million in fourteen regions. Eight of the regions are currently affected by drought in the central and northern parts of the country. As a first step, the WFP has started to intervene in the regions directly affected by the crisis. The organisation is implementing monthly food rations in kind for vulnerable food-insecure people. The distribution is done in partnership with the US Agency for International Development (USAID) office of Food for Peace (FFP). Read more…
