[PEN-L:29490] Southern Africa worse off than five years ago

[Diane Monaco <dmonaco@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

SOUTHERN AFRICA: Southern Africa worse off than five years ago
UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

JOHANNESBURG, 14 Aug 2002 (IRIN) - A leading UN agency on Wednesday called
on aid groups to rethink how they tackle humanitarian crises in Southern
Africa following indications that people are poorer than they were five
years ago.

In its latest report on the current food security crisis in Southern Africa
the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said that
for a variety of reasons the region had "slipped back in terms of
political, economic and social development, all of which has increased the
numbers of people living below the poverty line".

Compared with 1996 statistics, many more people in Swaziland, Zambia and
Zimbabwe did not have enough money to satisfy basic food needs in 2001,
according to the report.

Zimbabwe faired the worst with close to 75 percent of its population now
living in poverty, the report said. Sixty nine percent of Zambians and 48
percent of Swazis had also seen a substantial decrease in purchasing power.

Close to 13 million people in six countries face food shortages. Lesotho,
Swaziland, Malawi, Zimbabwe, Zambia and Mozambique are the most affected
countries in the region.

Although drought conditions may be the principal cause for the food crisis
"serious problems of governance, the HIV/AIDS pandemic and virtually
non-existent welfare and social security systems" have exacerbated the
situation, OCHA said.

The report also highlighted how, due to the high degree of economic
integration within the region, the downward trend in production and
economic opportunities impacted the region. Poor agricultural production in
the six countries assessed had resulted in an expected cereal deficit of
4,071,300 mt in Southern Africa.

Also, the HIV/AIDS pandemic had exacerbated an already desperate situation,
the report said. Almost 25 percent of Swazis are living with HIV/AIDS.

"For people living with HIV/AIDS, food shortages bring a host of problems
such as secondary infections as their resistance declines due to poor
nutrition. The resulting increased costs of care-giving and loss of
productive labour has an asset-stripping effect on households as well as on
their purchasing power," OCHA said.

The report said families directly affected by HIV/AIDS (including
child-headed households and those caring for AIDS orphans) had been
identified by agencies and would be provided with the necessary support.

While feeding the most vulnerable may be the short-term solution to the
current crisis, OCHA pointed out that the major challenge facing the region
was maintaining economic growth high enough to increase per capita incomes.

This would reduce poverty and decrease vulnerability, the report said.

However, the organisation acknowledged that this was made all the more
difficult by low production levels, low savings and external debt burdens.

On 18 July, the UN launched a Consolidated Inter-Agency Appeal calling on
donors to give a total of US $611 million to respond to the worsening crisis.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=29342&SelectRegion=Southern_Africa&SelectCountry=SOUTHERN_AFRICA