Post date: Aug 07, 2013 11:13:29 AM
Namibia, sub-Saharan Africa's driest country, is suffering its worst drought in a generation. President Hifkepunye Pohamba declared a national emergency in the sparsely populated southern African nation after the failure of crops in May, and earmarked 20 million US dollars of relief for the worst-hit households. The UN children's agency says it needs 7.4 million US dollars to thousands of children at risk of malnutrition.
OPUWO, KUNENE REGION, NAMIBIA (UNICEF) - This dry and dusty sand is all that remains of Kariamakuju Kauta's maize and vegetable field. She now only has one week's supply of maize left. She says she is not sure how she will find food to feed her family when that is done.
"We are hungry, that is the impact of the drought. That is what we can see. People are hungry. People are dying," she says.The 55-year-old's situation is the result of the worst drought Namibia has experienced in 30 years. An estimated 780,000 Namibians or a third of the population are now severely or moderately food insecure.
In May, the Namibian government declared an emergency committing around 20 million US dollars to provide food and water to affected people.
"All the 13 regions have been affected, there is a shortage of water for animals and humans. There is a shortage of food, people did not harvest enough food in all the regions," said Hellen Likanda, Deputy Director for the government's Disaster Risk Management Directorate.
Aid agencies have stepped in to help but as numbers of affected communities continue to rise -- funding gaps are widening. UNICEF says it needs 7.4 million US dollars to help the estimated 109,000 children at risk of malnutrition.
"We already know that Namibia is in a vulnerable situation in terms of nutrition. 29 percent in the country are stunted and stunting is irreversible it means 29 percent of these children do not do well in school it means 29% of these children fall out of the system and even out of the so called potential citizens of the country so children and women are bearing the brunt of the drought," said Micaela Marques de Sousa, UNICEF Namibia representative.
UNICEF is scaling up water, sanitation and hygiene facilities as well as nutrition education and infant feeding activities.
Early detection of malnutrition is critical during an emergency and already health extension workers based in remote communities are monitoring children and working with health centres to get affected children the treatment they need.
While agriculture accounts for five percent of the economy, a third of Namibians are dependent on some form of subsistence farming.
Agencies say it is becoming clear that this region prone to erratic weather must consider the long-term impact of climate change.
Mbete Tjiposa, an elder in her Ovahimba community has seen her fair share of droughts. But two consecutive years of no rain in her village in Kunene region is taking its toll.
Many farmers have been forced to sell cattle for which there is no grazing, while cow-herds fromAngola are reported to have crossed the border in search of food, fuelling tribal tensions as competition for scarce pastures intensifies.
"From previous years, we never suffered from drought because we used to drink milk and eat whatever we wanted to. Now the drought is really affecting us," said Tjiposa.
She boils a watery maize porridge - her only meal for the day. The government food rations have not yet arrived and she must support several families.
Namibia, which won independence from neighbouring South Africa in 1990, classifies as a middle-income country although a quarter of its two million people live in poverty.