|
Up to 12 million people in southern Africa faced serious food shortages in early 2006 following some of the poorest harvests in the region in more than a decade. The worst affected countries were Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe, with people living in Lesotho, Swaziland, Namibia and Mozambique also affected.
The familiar culprits of drought and erratic rainfall caused the poor harvests and the region also suffers from chronic poverty and the devastating effects of HIV and AIDS. On top of this, the countries’ economies are not in good shape.
People were struggling to survive until the next harvest.
What does food insecurity mean?
Food insecurity means that people are unable to access nutritious food which is enough for their needs. This may be because food simply isn’t available due to insufficient production and/or imports.
But it is not just about availability. There might be food in the markets, but prices are too high and people can’t afford to buy it, or they are unable to grow or trade other things for food.
Food insecurity does not happen overnight. Generally speaking it is caused by a build up of events that weaken people’s ability to get hold of food.
What caused this food insecurity crisis?
To start with, the region is struggling with chronic poverty which means individuals and families are in a weak position to cope with food shortages. Other factors contributing to ongoing food insecurity are the effects of HIV and AIDS on the populations and failing economies.
Most people in the affected countries are small-scale farmers who grow their own crops and keep livestock. After a good harvest, they’ll store food for the coming year and keep extra to trade for goods. They are often vulnerable during the "lean period" – the months leading up to the harvest in March/April – when food supplies are low.
With less food, people become more vulnerable because they are weaker physically – often because they are also suffering from AIDS-related illnesses – and because they have sold off assets which they might otherwise trade or eat, such as livestock. This all makes them more vulnerable to "shocks" such as drought, which in previous years they may have survived more easily.
Governments were unable to import maize to compensate for low food stocks during the lean period. As prices are affected by supply and demand, the decrease in supply forced food prices up, making food inaccessible. Maize prices in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, increased by 117 per cent in two months.
So why don’t we send food to those in need?
That’s exactly what aid agencies did – targeted food aid will help the most vulnerable people make it through to the next harvest. The World Food Programme (WFP) closely monitors distribution to make sure supplies are targeted only at those who cannot afford to buy food in the markets.
Although food is urgently required, it is only a short-term solution. In the long term, food aid does not provide a sustainable solution. While food aid succeeds in providing enough food to fill the gap in supplies – providing temporary reprieve to struggling families and boosting nutrition levels – ongoing food aid can contribute to food insecurity by causing price changes.
Many of the region’s economies have suffered in the past when unrestricted food aid flooded the open market. Without controls in place, this led to an initial fall in food prices, followed by a steep rise. Price stability is essential for food security.
Why didn’t the international community act sooner to avert the crisis?
Back in the summer of 2005, the United Nations launched an $88 million food appeal for Malawi, but ten days later had received not a single penny in pledges from other wealthy countries. Even by February 2006, the donations under the WFP were still $23 million short – and that's after months of desperate suffering affecting many millions of Malawians.
Sadly, by the time pictures of starving children appear on television screens and individuals are moved to donate, it is far too late to help some.
How do people cope when food is in short supply?
Many communities in southern Africa have previously managed to get by when food has been difficult to get hold of, either by supporting each other or by finding other sources of income.
It is important to remember all the different factors that have contributed to the crisis. We can get the idea that victims wait around passively for help. Nothing could be more wrong. These people have tremendous survival skills. They will carefully calculate their needs and plan for the future.
One skill that many people in southern Africa have is finding wild food in the countryside. Women in particular have extensive knowledge, passed down through generations, of where to find wild berries and roots and what is safe to eat. But with so many deaths through HIV and AIDS, that life-saving knowledge is being lost, as mothers die before their children are old enough to learn the skills.
What decisions do people have to make in order to survive?
As families become unable to buy sufficient staple food, they will make a series of decisions to help them survive until the next harvest. The first stage might be to ration food to just one meal a day, with many mothers cutting down their intake to carry on feeding their children adequately.
They might then withdraw their secondary-aged children from school to save the fees, followed by those of primary age, due to the cost of pens, paper, lunch and uniforms. Healthcare would be next on the list.
Families can become separated if men decide to go abroad in search of work while women make things to trade or sell. Many women in desperation will end up working in the sex industry, putting themselves at high risk of contracting HIV.
Assets such as bicycles, cooking pots and other household items are sold to raise money, and eventually families may have no other choice but to let go of their livestock and tools.
But it’s not just a matter of surviving until the next harvest. Price rises also affect seeds – people have less money than usual and they may be unable to buy seeds for next season’s crop.
What about HIV and AIDS?
With so many deaths due to HIV and AIDS, the average life expectancy in the region is now just 37 years. Entire families have been left without an adult capable of earning a living. There are now many child-headed families or elderly grandparents supporting several sets of grandchildren. Where rural families would have previously relied on those living in urban areas for support, they now have to find additional funds to care for the four million children orphaned by AIDS.
These communities are faced with the additional responsibility of caring for those living with HIV and AIDS. The one in four adults who are HIV positive need nutritious food to remain healthy.
What can be done to help?
While the priority is dealing with immediate crises by providing targeted food aid to the most vulnerable, longer-term solutions lie in addressing the underlying issues surrounding food insecurity.
Families affected by HIV and AIDS need practical and emotional support. People will also need seeds and fertilisers, tools to replace those that have been sold, and in some cases small livestock. Long term, there is also a need for farming education to develop agricultural efficiency.
Although the wider economic issues may initially seem remote, they have a direct impact on whether or not people can get access to food. The creation of employment, education, business development, technology, effective policies and investment are just some of the long-term solutions needed to bring people back from living on the edge.
Further activities
Two assembly kits - one for primary, one for secondary - were produced to help students better understand food insecurity. The performance and activities contain ideas to explore the topic further.
| 
