From Zambia to Afghanistan, WFP warns El Nino's extreme weather is causing a surge in hunger
The UN’s World Food Programme says extreme weather attributed to the El Nino phenomenon is causing a surge in hunger in several countries, including Zambia and Afghanistan, and called on donors for much-needed help
CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) — Extreme weather attributed to the El Nino phenomenon is causing a surge in hunger in several countries, including Zambia and Afghanistan, the UN's World Food Programme said Wednesday, and called on donors for much-needed help.
El Niño is a natural, temporary and occasional warming of part of the Pacific that shifts global weather patterns, and studies say that as the world warms, they may get stronger.
Tens of millions of people in southern Africa rely on the weather to grow food to feed themselves.
In a statement, the WFP warned that southern Africa was the “epicenter of the crisis” after a cycle of floods and drought has battered the region over the last three years. Three countries, Malawi, Zimbabwe and Zambia, are the worst affected and have seen between 40-80% of their staple corn crops wiped out by drought this season, leaving millions impacted, according to the UN food agency.
