Warnings that
were not heeded
In 2002, Save the Children produced
research that highlighted how many households in Southern Africa were living on
a 'razor’s edge', barely meeting subsistence and survival needs. We warned
that when a crop failure or some other shock affects them, they are easily
tipped over the edge. Since then Save the Children and others have carried out
further analyses and made recommendations for addressing the underlying causes.
Three years on, a combination of a mid-season drought affecting
the main maize harvest and a shortage of agricultural inputs in some countries
have resulted in below average harvests in Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe and the
southern part of Mozambique.
This latest crop failure has precipitated
the very crisis we warned about, with almost 10 million people needing
emergency assistance.
What are we doing?
Save the Children
has longstanding programmes in Malawi, Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Zambia. We are
implementing food aid and livelihood programmes and have the capacity to
rapidly scale up, as the situation requires.
Why do these food
crises keep recurring in Southern Africa?
Much of the population
remains highly vulnerable to shocks such as poor harvests. These short-term
shocks recur frequently, and even in an average year, people aren’t able
to put much in reserve.
There are a number of underlying reasons for
this fragility:
- Poorly-functioning food markets: Government attempts to control prices or provide subsidised maize can in fact lead to shortages if they do not have the capacity to bring in enough supplies, creating high black market prices and corruption (e.g. Zimbabwe and Malawi).
- Economic stagnation: This means that employment is limited, incomes fall and investment in agriculture, education, health and other key sectors for the rural poor is inadequate.
- Governmental problems: Taking Zimbabwe as an example, fears over the rule of law and property rights are damaging the farming and urban sector. This means that businesses are less likely to invest, which worsens the economic stagnation problems.
- HIV & AIDS: Southern Africa has some of the highest HIV/AIDS rates in the world. This has serious impacts on livelihoods and also leads to a continued increase in the rate of orphanhood.
- Lack of social protection: Most of the countries in Southern Africa currently have very limited, if any, social protection systems and national governments often lack the institutional and financial means to implement these.
The devastating knock-on effects of food shortages
Food shortages threaten more than hunger. Typically, before families arrive at the point of relying on food aid, they will have had to change their daily lives to cope with the shortages. These can have damaging effects on children in particular. For example families won’t be able to spend money on education and healthcare, and children will often have to work more.
These coping measures can also damage their future livelihood, as often families are forced to sell livestock for money in the short term, which causes bigger problems in the long term.
