Food shortages as a result of ongoing drought and crop failures have claimed the lives of at least 29 children in Malawi since January, according to reports published on Monday.
The severely malnourished children were being kept at a United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) rehabilitation centre in the country’s southern Nsanje district at the time of their deaths, radio reports in South Africa said.
Confirmation of their deaths by local hospital officials comes in the wake of an UN warning that the tiny Southern African country may be the next Niger, where almost 2,7-million people are at risk of starvation.
In Malawi, one of the countries in the region worst affected by food shortages, 10-million people require food aid, according to the WFP.
About 22% of children in Malawi are malnourished, while about 4,2-million people — 34% of the population — are considered at risk.
The food crisis, attributed to the worst drought in a decade, has been aggravated by Malawi’s high Aids infection rate.
The WFP has meanwhile highlighted the poor response by international donors to appeals for assistance in countries such as Malawi and Zambia, where 1,2-million people are in need of food aid. — Sapa-DPA