Publication Date April 28, 2016 | All Africa

Southern Africa: Recovery from drought unlikely in most of Southern Africa

Zambia
The carcass of a dead cow lies in the Black Umfolozi River, dry from the effects ot the latest severe drought, in Nongoma district north west from Durban, South Africa, on November 9, 2015. Photo: Mujahid Safodien, AFP/Getty Images)
The carcass of a dead cow lies in the Black Umfolozi River, dry from the effects ot the latest severe drought, in Nongoma district north west from Durban, South Africa, on November 9, 2015. Photo: Mujahid Safodien, AFP/Getty Images)

As the rainy season approaches its end in southern Africa, this past week's rainfall proved mostly average throughout the sub-region. Over the past 30 days, many areas to the east of the region, including Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Tanzania and Madagascar, experienced wetter than average conditions, while to the west Angola, western Zambia, Namibia, and South Africa received below-average rainfall.

According to the latest Famine Early Warning Systems Network - a leading provider of early warning and analysis on food insecurity created by USAID in 1985 to help decision-makers plan for humanitarian crises - most countries in the region expect the main harvest to be delayed by up to a month