00:00 Zimbabwe has officially declared a state of national disaster in response to a severe
00:07 drought that has plunged millions into a food crisis.
00:11 President Imerson Mangagwa has emphasized the urgent need for $2 billion in humanitarian
00:18 aid to address the crisis attributing the drought to the El Nino phenomenon, which disrupts
00:24 weather patterns globally by rising sea temperatures in the Pacific Ocean.
00:29 This declaration now makes Zimbabwe the third southern African nation following Zambia and
00:34 Malawi to acknowledge the ongoing drought as a disaster.
00:38 The region is grappling with one of the worst dry spells in decades, leading to dire consequences
00:44 for agriculture and food security.
00:47 The situation in Zimbabwe has been deteriorating steadily since the beginning of this year.
00:52 Between January and March, the World Food Programme provided assistance to approximately
00:57 2.7 million people, which represents around 20 per cent of the country's population.
01:04 South Africa as a whole is facing a severe food crisis if you talk about data, with over
01:10 17 million people in need of food relief according to the United Nations.
01:15 Malawi and Zambia are particularly hard hit, with approximately 9 million and 6 million
01:20 people requiring assistance, respectively.
01:23 Meanwhile, the World Food Programme has been actively providing aid to 2.7 million individuals
01:28 in Zimbabwe.
01:30 The Zambian President Hakinde Hichalema and Malawian President Lazarus Chakwera have already
01:36 declared drought a national disaster in their respective countries.
01:40 Hichalema already reported a significant crop loss, with nearly half of Zambia's staple
01:45 corn destroyed.
01:47 Chakwera similarly highlighted the need for over 200 million in urgent humanitarian assistance
01:53 to support 2 million households affected by the drought.
01:56 Meanwhile, Zimbabwe, Zambia and Malawi have already declared a national disaster.
02:01 The entire South African region is actually feeling the effect of this drought.
02:06 The low rainfall and a delayed start to the rainy season have devastated harvests across
02:10 Angola, Mozambique and beyond, affecting tens of millions of people who rely on agriculture
02:16 for their livelihood.
02:18 Zimbabwe is increasingly dependent on aid agencies now to mediate the impact of such
02:24 weather extremes, highlighting the urgent need for long-term solutions to address the
02:28 underlying cause of food security in the region.
02:38 [BLANK_AUDIO]
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