health

SOUTHERN AFRICA: Rainy Season Brings Mixed Blessings

Moyiga Nduru

JOHANNESBURG, Jan 27 2007 (IPS) – This year s rainy season has brought some mixed blessings to farmers and aid agencies operating in Southern Africa, which experienced a spell of drought and famine last year.
In most of the 14-member Southern African Development Community (SADC), the rainfall on which most farmers rely unable to afford irrigation starts in November and ends in March.

We had a poor start to the season. But since late December we have experienced some good rainfall. This doesn t mean that all is well. The southern and eastern parts of the country are not having good rainfall, Ajah Vashee, president of the Trustee of Zambia National Farmers Union, told IPS from the central town of Ndola by phone.

Some farmers, because rains started late, have had to replant their crops. This means extra cost for them, he said. We hope that the weather holds up between now and mid-February.

Despite the uncertainty, we are optimistic that we will have reasonable good production this year in Zambia, Vashee said.

In its seasonal outlook update for December-February 2007, the Zimbabwe-based SADC Drought Monitoring Centre says it expects above-normal rainfall in the greater part of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). It expects similar rainfall in northern Angola, most of Zambia, the southern half Tanzania, Malawi and Mozambique, most of Zimbabwe, the eastern half Swaziland and extreme eastern South Africa.
Related IPS Articles

Aid agencies are still waiting for the rainy season to pick up or slow down so as to determine the number of people likely to require food aid this year.

Currently we feed 4.3 million vulnerable people and school children through food provision, Mike Huggins, a spokesman for the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) in South Africa s commercial capital of Johannesburg, told IPS by phone.

There are vulnerable people, such as those living with HIV, and AIDS orphans that always require food aid in the region, he said.

Early last year, aid agencies were feeding 10.3 million people across the region prone to floods and drought. This figure has fallen to 4.3 million because of the good harvest last agricultural season, Huggins said. It s too early, however, to speculate on this year s food demands.

One of the countries experiencing acute food shortages, Zimbabwe, with a population of 13 million, used to be the grain basket of the region. But production fell after President Robert Mugabe seized land from 4,500 white commercial farmers to resettle landless blacks between 2000 and 2002.

White commercial farmers used to produce the bulk of Zimbabwe s food. Now the country is reeling under a runaway inflation rate of more than 1,000 percent, and has become a net food importer. Last week it imported 3,351 tonnes of wheat from South Africa, according to the South African Grain Information Service.

Apart from South Africa, Namibia, Mauritius and Botswana, farmers in the region face difficulties in obtaining bank loans. Banks require collateral, something which poor farmers usually cannot provide.

The biggest problem most farmers have is the inability to borrow money and produce food, Vashee said. The other problem is the functioning of the maize marketing.

Maize is the staple food in much of the SADC region. Sometimes you have the crops, but you can t sell them, he said.

Last year the Zambian government bought the maize surplus but didn t have sufficient money to back up the deal. As a result, they are still paying the farmers, Vashee said.

Relatively wealthy Namibia, too, is feeling the pinch. WFP is facing a shortfall of four million dollars for its operations in Namibia through to April, and needs a total of nine million dollars through to the end of 2007, the UN food agency said in a statement. The agency is looking after 90,000 orphans and vulnerable children in Namibia.

Across the region, excluding Namibia, WFP faces a funding shortfall of 48 million dollars for programmes in Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe which assist about 4.5 million people, the WFP added.

More rainfall is needed if the SADC region is to overcome food shortages and look after its vulnerable people, many of whom are living with HIV/AIDS and are too weak to farm.

There are no clear signs of declining HIV prevalence elsewhere in southern Africa including in Botswana, Namibia and Swaziland. In Swaziland, national adult HIV prevalence is estimated at 33.4 percent. Botswana s epidemic is equally serious, with national adult HIV prevalence estimated at 24.1 percent in 2005. Lesotho s epidemic seems to be relatively stable at very high levels, with an estimated national adult HIV prevalence of 23.2 percent, said the 2006 UN Joint Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) report.

On the eastern coastline, a dynamic epidemic is underway in Mozambique, where the estimated national adult HIV prevalence is 16.1 percent. HIV is spreading fastest in provinces linked by major transport routes to Malawi, South Africa and Zimbabwe, according to UNAIDS.

 

Related Posts

Game Of Thrones Complete Series Blu-Ray Is Only $58 For Amazon Prime Day

Game of Thrones fans can pick up the complete series on Blu-ray for only $58 at Amazon during Prime Day 2024. You can also save on multiple editions of House of the Dragon Season 1, including the 4K Blu-ray steelbook edition, as well as A Song of Ice and Fire novel box sets.


Game of Thrones & House of the Dragon Blu-ray Deals

  • Game of Thrones: Complete Series (Blu-ray) — $58 ($108)
  • Game of Thrones: The Complete First Season Steelbook (Blu-ray) — $18 ($28)
  • Game of Thrones: The Complete Second Season Steelbook (Blu-ray) — $18 ($40)
  • House of the Dragon: The Complete First Season Steelbook (4K) — $28 ($37)
  • House of the Dragon…

PlayStation Plus Moving Away From Monthly PS4 Games

Sony has announced a key change for the future of PlayStation Plus. Sony will shift away from offering PS4 games as it looks to focus on PS5 games instead. Sony said it’s making this change as part of the evolution of PS Plus overall Come from online casino bangladesh . This isn’t starting soon, though, and will begin in January 2026.

“As we shift to PS5, PS4 games will no longer be a key benefit and will only be occasionally offered for PlayStation Plus Monthly Games and Game Catalog starting January 2026. We may still provide titles that can be playable on both PS4 and PS5 consoles after this date,” Sony said.

PS4 games that players have already redeemed from PS Plus are not affected, provided players stay subscribed to Pl…

Saquon Barkley's No-Look Hurdle Has Been Added To Madden NFL 25

In the NFL, when players pull off something special on the field, fans occasionally refer to it as a “video-game move.” But Philadelphia Eagles running back Saquon Barkley took that to another level earlier this season when he evaded a defender by jumping over him while looking the other way. EA couldn’t resist adding that no-look hurdle to the latest update for Madden NFL 25, but Barkley is the only player who can use it and it’s not easy to pull off.

As part of the notes for the new Madden NFL 25 update, EA explained that the development team immediately decided to put Barkley’s “once-in-a-lifetime move” in the game by combing through hours of motion-capture footage. From there, they determined which animations could be modified to recreate Barkley’s leap, with some additional h…

Resistance 4 Was Pitched But Didn't Work Out, Says Former Insomniac Boss

According to former Insomniac Games boss Ted Price, a Resistance 4 game was pitched but ultimately wasn’t made.

In an interview with Kinda Funny Games, Ted Price, said, “We did pitch that one. It was a wonderful concept, and in terms of timing and market opportunity, it didn’t work out.” When asked whether Resistance 3’s poor sales at the time impacted the decision to move on from the series, Price didn’t answer directly.

“Resistance 3 was intended to end that chapter of the Resistance franchise,” he explained. “With the way we ended with [protagonist] Capelli and closed a lot of loops on various smaller story items…we wanted to do that so we could have more options in the future, whether we would go ahead with more Resistance games or taking another turn.”

Star Wars- Legion Is Super Cheap For Prime Day – Plus, More Star Wars Board Game Deals

We’ve seen plenty of great Star Wars video games hit the market over the past few years, but the same is also true for Star Wars board games. Legion is one of the most popular options, pitting two players against each other in strategy battles that can run for up to three hours. It’s also one of the most expensive at $120–but for Prime Day, you can get it for just $89. Come from online casino bangladesh

That’s one of the lowest prices of the year. The base game includes 33 highly detailed miniatures, a comprehensive rulebook, and all the cards and pieces you need to dive into the complex game. The game is an easy recommendation for Star Wars fans now that it’s listed for less than $120, though we’re sure Amazon …

Elden Ring's Miyazaki Named To Time's 100 Most Influential People List For 2023

Time Magazine’s annual list of the world’s top 100 most influential people has arrived, and the list includes one person from the world of video games. From Software’s Hidetaka Miyazaki, the director of Elden Ring, Bloodborne, and Dark Souls, lands on the list in the “Innovator” section. Come from Sports betting site VPbet

Naughty Dog’s Neil Druckmann profiled Miyazaki for Time, writing that Miyazaki’s games originally made him feel “miserable” because Druckmann’s character died over and over again. But Druckmann, and gamers all over the place who stick with Miyazaki’s games, may end up having a breakthrough. That’s what makes Miyazaki such a great designer, Druckmann said.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *