Hunger in Southern Africa is a reality

By Brenda Dimbleby People are dying of hunger! But, if you were to walk around the urban centres of countries such as Lesotho and Swaziland you probably wouldn't notice the hunger crisis, that the situation is bleak. It is mostly in the rural areas where people are suffering and dying daily from lack of food. This is not a recent phenomenon, as highlighted by the news media, but a daily ongoing tragedy. The Southern Africa region is facing what could become the worst famine in a decade due to a deadly combination of acute poverty, unstable weather, crop failures, depleted food reserves, and one of the highest incidences of HIV/AIDS. It is estimated that people at risk of dying from food shortages in Angola are 500,000, in Lesotho 450,000, and in Swaziland 230,000. The food crisis is seen as the greatest humanitarian disaster facing the world at the moment and has forced governments to declare national disasters. Millions of children are surviving on one meal a day, and many more are eating roots and grass seed, which have little nutritional value. This will ultimately further worsen the famine as it has an impact on the growth of the environment. Families are selling what little assets they have to buy food. People weakened by HIV/AIDS and not getting enough to eat makes them vulnerable to life-threatening, infectious diseases such as cholera, tuberculosis and malaria, or even a common cold that could kill them quickly. If enough food doesn't reach those in need, it is feared that the casualties may be catastrophic in scale. Yet, the worst of this crisis is ahead as the coming rainy season in September will make it more difficult to reach those in need. The situation at ground level But is the situation really this serious, this horrific? Brenda Dimbleby went to the national offices of SOS Children's Villages for a closer look at the crisis. Desolat school building near Lubango - Photo: B. Dimbleby Angola While the war dominated headlines coming out of Angola, the full extent of the humanitarian crisis in Angola only became known following the April ceasefire agreement. This agreement finally ended the decades long war between the government and UNITA rebels. Aid agencies that were previously denied access to isolated areas found that more people had died from malnutrition, food shortages, disease, poor water and sanitation than from direct conflict. According to the official estimates at least three million people need help as they struggle to rebuild their lives after decades of upheaval. War tactics pursued by both UNITA and government forces during the conflict, including forced displacement, indiscriminate violence and burning of villages and fields, have left hundreds of thousands of Angolans in a precarious situation. But, says Jozsef Szalontai, national project director of SOS Children's Villages, "The hunger situation is caused mainly by human factors - the natural resources in Angola are one of the best in Africa for agriculture." Landmines are also a constant threat, especially for women and young girls as they forage for food and firewood. Some anti-personnel mines are often brightly painted so children pick them up. Nurses with a new drug delivery for Benguela - Photo: B. Dimbleby SOS Emergency Relief Programmes Since 1997 SOS Children's Villages in Angola have provided help for undernourished children, pregnant women and elderly people from the neighbouring community. They distribute food from a community kitchen close to the SOS Children's Village in Lubango. In Benguela (since 2000) food has regularly been supplied to a local day-care center and orphanage. In the last quarter the total number of the beneficiaries in Lubango and Benguela stabilized around 350. SOS Children's Villages "The children living in the SOS Children's Village in Lubango are not affected directly by the hunger situation, however, the permanent food price increase causes more and more problems for SOS mothers to manage on the fixed monthly food allowance," said Jozsef. One SOS staff member said, "It is very sad that a potentially rich country like Angola has to suffer from hunger." "This pessimism does not disappear quickly as access roads to the fertile zones are in a very bad condition, with landmines all over the fields. This means that normal agricultural activities are almost impossible. People are dying of hunger," ended Jozsef sadly. Lesotho Lesotho, along with Malawi, is seen as being most in need of emergency relief. Since 1998 there has been much unemployment, with the result that there is very little money circulating in the country. As people become poverty stricken they go hungry. The heavy rains in June this year affected the harvest with the result that the crops were "no good" because of root rotting. It is the mountain region of Lesotho that is most severely affected by the hunger situation. In May the Prime Minister declared the situation a national disaster. The World Food Programme (WFP) and UNICEF replied to the crisis by supplying some food aid to poor people. National director of SOS Children's Villages Lesotho, Nkeletseng Kanetsi, said, "I foresee this hunger crisis continuing for a couple of years." The village in Maseru is not currently running any feeding programmes but with the launch of their HIV/AIDS programme in the near future they will identify the needy and supply them with food packages. Included in this new programme will be the community children on scholarship at the SOS Primary School. The SOS Children's Village Maseru is affected by the hunger crisis in that the price of food, especially the staple, mealie meal (maize), has skyrocketed. Mothers are battling to readjust their budgets to incorporate the food increases. Many of the SOS children's friends from the community come to visit the village hoping for a meal. These children often go a day or more without eating anything. The village is seen as a place of hope and safety where people share what they have. Suffering people who receive food from SOS Children's Villages - Photo: B. Dimbleby Swaziland About thirty to forty thousand people in the Lowveld of Swaziland are currently receiving food aid on a distribution basis from various international organisations. But, as more than 75% of the population are poor rural dwellers this help is not nearly enough. "The hunger situation, which stems from the lack of rainfall and drought, is a genuine problem. It is very severe and people are dying," says national director Dick Eyeington. The SOS Children's Villages in Swaziland are not directly affected by the hunger crisis. Village staff are, however, compassionate and remember those less fortunate than themselves by trying to help where they can. The Nhlangano village has launched an emergency feeding programme and supplies families with basic foodstuffs, as well as seeds, and help in planting new crops, so the cycle does not repeat itself. South Africa Although there is no official food crisis in South Africa, many of the families that have been identified by SOS Children's Villages South Africa as needing assistance because one or more of its members are HIV infected, are suffering from lack of food. These families are poor and most do not have a monthly income, as those able to work cannot find employment. Village staff help where they can by giving the families food donated by various fruit and vegetable markets. *** Brenda Dimbleby is communications co-ordinator for SOS Children's Villages in the Southern African region (including Angola, Lesotho, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland)