THE International Red Cross on Thursday launched an appeal for 6,8-million Swiss francs ($4,2-million, 4,6-million euros) to provide support for about 450 000 Aids sufferers threatened by southern Africa’s worsening food crisis.
The 12-month appeal by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies targets parts of Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe which are hardest hit by famine and severe food shortages.
“Harvests were low last year and this year it’s clear the shortfall will be very great since there won’t be any more food production before next April,” said Guy Zimmermann, a nutrition expert at the federation.
“It’s clear the situation will worsen very quickly,” he said.
“The nutritional status is already very bad for many people, particularly young children orphaned because of HIV/Aids and the high numbers of adults who are infected with the virus,” he added.
The region has some of the highest HIV/Aids rates in the world. About 1,8-million children in Malawi and Zimbabwe and more than one million in Zambia have been orphaned by Aids, the Red Cross estimates.
About 15 to 20% of the population is thought to have HIV/Aids.
The UN’s food agency has already warned that 2,6-million people across southern Africa are suffering from food shortages and millions more could be affected in coming months.
“The combination of poor basic health and insufficient access to food will make this situation very difficult in the coming months,” Zimmermann warned, noting there were also high rates of malaria and diarrhoeal illnesses in the three countries.
The Red Cross said its assistance would involve 7 000 tons of food as well as increased health care to tackle diseases “which prove deadly companions to drought”.
It also wants to change local food and farming habits, shifting the region ? previously known as the bread basket of Africa *#8212; away from maize production to other crops and types of maize which are more resistant to drought and climate change.
“We know climate is changing, there’s a succession of floods or drought, rain no longer comes at the right moment for satisfactory harvests, so people must diversify their agriculture,” Zimmermann told journalists.
The Red Cross is focusing on one district each in the provinces of Masvingo and Matabeleland in Zimbabwe, three districts in Zambia’s Southern province, and three areas of southern Malawi. – AFP