UN Says Record 45 Million People in Southern Africa Facing Food Crisis

The 16-member Southern African Development Community is in the grips of a severe drought, as climate change wreaks havoc in impoverished countries struggling to cope with extreme natural disasters, such as Cyclone Idai which devastated Mozambique earlier this year, Reuters reported.

"We've had the worst drought in 35 years in central and Western areas during the growing season," said Margaret Malu, acting regional director for Southern Africa at the World Food Programme (WFP).

"We must meet the pressing emergency food and nutrition needs of millions of people, but also invest in building the resilience of those threatened by ever more frequent and severe droughts, floods and storms," Malu added in a statement.

WFP, the Food and Agriculture Organization and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) appealed jointly for urgent funding to help mitigate the effects of climate change in Africa.

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