Aid agency warns of southern Africa food shortages
-24/11/05
Christian aid agency Tearf
Aid agency warns of southern Africa food shortages
-24/11/05
Christian aid agency Tearfund is this week launching an emergency appeal for funds as more than 11 million people across southern Africa face acute food shortages.
Tearfund’s partners in the region say the humanitarian crisis will deepen in the coming months if rapid international action is not taken.
The UN World Food Programme has stated that the numbers of people affected in the worst hit countries are Malawi (4.6 million), Zambia (1.7 million) and Zimbabwe (3-5 million).
Failed rains are a common trigger across the region, but underlying causes include chronic poverty, weakened agriculture and health sectors due to widespread HIV and AIDS, political inertia and inappropriate agricultural and economic policies.
Other countries affected by the food crisis are Mozambique, Lesotho and Swaziland.
Victor Mughogho, Director of Relief and Development for the Living Waters denomination in Malawi, a Tearfund partner says, “In the southern district of Chikwawa where we are working it has reached crisis proportions. In some places as many as 70% of households do not have enough food. How they will survive the coming months we do not know.”
He continues: “We urgently need the support of people in the UK for funds but also for prayer. The people of Malawi are not sitting around waiting for help. They want to solve their own problems; it is just that their level of vulnerability is too high.”
Tearfund has already earmarked £1.5m for its immediate response to Christian partners in the region who are already working with many thousands of families. They will distribute greater quantities of emergency food aid in the coming weeks and months, and also seeds which need planting almost immediately for next April’s Harvest.
Says Gary Swart, Tearfund’s Southern Africa Regional Manager: “The urgency of getting help into the region quickly cannot be exaggerated. Villagers need food aid, seed and fertilizer to keep them alive and healthy, as well as to ensure a good harvest for the future. At the same time we are working to help people improve their own lives beyond this crisis, for example, through new ways of farming that will deliver better crop yields and mitigating the impacts of HIV and AIDS.”
Tearfund’s Southern Africa Crisis Appeal is launched on Thursday November 24th.
Aid agency warns of southern Africa food shortages
-24/11/05
Christian aid agency Tearfund is this week launching an emergency appeal for funds as more than 11 million people across southern Africa face acute food shortages.
Tearfund’s partners in the region say the humanitarian crisis will deepen in the coming months if rapid international action is not taken.
The UN World Food Programme has stated that the numbers of people affected in the worst hit countries are Malawi (4.6 million), Zambia (1.7 million) and Zimbabwe (3-5 million).
Failed rains are a common trigger across the region, but underlying causes include chronic poverty, weakened agriculture and health sectors due to widespread HIV and AIDS, political inertia and inappropriate agricultural and economic policies.
Other countries affected by the food crisis are Mozambique, Lesotho and Swaziland.
Victor Mughogho, Director of Relief and Development for the Living Waters denomination in Malawi, a Tearfund partner says, “In the southern district of Chikwawa where we are working it has reached crisis proportions. In some places as many as 70% of households do not have enough food. How they will survive the coming months we do not know.”
He continues: “We urgently need the support of people in the UK for funds but also for prayer. The people of Malawi are not sitting around waiting for help. They want to solve their own problems; it is just that their level of vulnerability is too high.”
Tearfund has already earmarked £1.5m for its immediate response to Christian partners in the region who are already working with many thousands of families. They will distribute greater quantities of emergency food aid in the coming weeks and months, and also seeds which need planting almost immediately for next April’s Harvest.
Says Gary Swart, Tearfund’s Southern Africa Regional Manager: “The urgency of getting help into the region quickly cannot be exaggerated. Villagers need food aid, seed and fertilizer to keep them alive and healthy, as well as to ensure a good harvest for the future. At the same time we are working to help people improve their own lives beyond this crisis, for example, through new ways of farming that will deliver better crop yields and mitigating the impacts of HIV and AIDS.”
Tearfund’s Southern Africa Crisis Appeal is launched on Thursday November 24th.