Swaziland’s King Mswati III left Mbabane on Friday for Rome to attend a World Food Summit and solicit food for tens of thousands of starving people in his tiny mountain nation, sandwiched between South Africa and Mozambique.
Famine is sweeping the region as a result of drought and erratic rains.
UN agencies say Swaziland needs 18 000 tons of food aid, but Swaziland’s Disaster Task Force chairman, Ben Nsibandze, maintains that it needs 100 000 tons.
The government and the aid agencies agree that around 150 000 Swazis will face starvation without emergency food.
The king’s delegation includes Minister for Agriculture and Co-operatives Roy Fanourakis and Foreign Minister Abdnego Ntshangase.
More than 20 members of the royal family are also accompanying him. – Sapa-AFP