Zimbabwe, which has normally been a food surplus country, has seen a sharp deterioration in its food security due to a combination of factors: erratic rainfall; a steep economic downturn combined with an equally sharp rise in staple food prices; the negative impact of the government’s land reform programme; and the HIV/AIDS pandemic. Continue Reading »

Although Zambia’s overall harvest is forecast to improve this year, parts of the southern region are facing another year of food shortages due to unfavorable weather conditions.

Erratic rainfall resulted in the loss of significant crops, while pockets of the country also lost their crops due to flooding when the rains finally did come. Continue Reading »

More than half a million people in five countries - Mauritania, Senegal, the Gambia, Cape Verde and Mali - are on the frontline of a drought.

The governments of Mauritania and the Gambia have already declared national disasters and appealed for emergency food aid. Continue Reading »

Political crises and civil conflicts have plagued the Mano River countries – Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone and, most recently, Cote d’Ivoire – for many years, leaving a trail of hungry internally displaced persons and refugees in their wake.

It is estimated that 791,000 IDPs and refugees need food aid across the West Africa coastal region. Continue Reading »

Despite announcements of recent ceasefires, fighting and attacks on civilians in Northern Uganda continues, including raids by the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) rebels.on displacement camps and refugee settlements. Continue Reading »

Swaziland is facing yet another year of serious food shortages, which will leave at least a quarter of the population, or 250,000 people, dependent on food aid throughout 2003. Continue Reading »

Two decades of armed conflict and recurrent droughts have left some 3.2 million Sudanese dependent on food aid for survival.

The 20-year civil war between the Government of Sudan and the Sudan People’s Liberation Army - the single most important cause of food insecurity in Sudan - has resulted in massive displacement of civilians, disruption of agricultural activities and destruction of socio-economic infrastructures in the country. Continue Reading »

The situation in RoC has been volatile ever since hostilities erupted in 2002. Many thousands of people remain displaced by the fighting, and inaccessible to humanitarian agencies.

Some people have succeeded in escaping the conflict area, and finding safety and shelter in camps. Others continue to hide in forests. Continue Reading »

Some 650,000 people in southern and central Mozambique require emergency food assistance. However, this figure may yet rise substantially in the coming months, following the WFP/FAO Food and Crop Supply Assessment mission. Continue Reading »

A poor harvest across Malawi in 2002 left the country facing enormous food shortages. At the peak of the crisis in early 2003, over 3.5 million people needed food assistance. Continue Reading »