from ALFRED SHILONGO in Windhoek, Namibia
Namibia Bureau
WINDHOEK, (CAJ News) – NAMIBIA has declared a state of emergency following severe drought conditions prevailing nationwide.
The declaration on Tuesday barely comes a few months after other Southern African Development Community (SADC) regional member states Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe have issued similar food relief appeals to the international community.
Namibia Chief Public Relations Officer in the Office of the Prime Minister, Rhingo Mutambo, said the government urgently required food aid worth $45 million (about R447.5 million) to alleviate hunger and food scarcity in all the 14 regions nationwide affected by drought.
Mutambo said the drought poses threat to the country’s 2.6 million livelihoods of affected households insisting the humanitarian aid would alleviate the effects of food insecurity.
He said the current state of food insecurity had affected the country’s economy, precisely agriculture, which led to reduced crop yields, massive livestock losses, and increased food insecurity as more than 100,000 livestock has already died due to drought.
Mutambo appealed to the international community, private sector, individuals and development to assist in raising the needed amount of money as well as donation in kind.
Over the years, Namibia declared a similar state of emergency due severe droughts that negatively impacted the southern African nation in 2013, 2016 and 2019.
– CAJ News