Aid Agency Recommendations Include Grain Marketing Boards, Water Management, Drought-Resistant Crops

Breaking the cycle of drought and hunger in Southern Africa, where 39 million people are suffering a drought-induced food crisis, will need better early warning systems, switching to new crops and hedging commodity prices, food experts said on Friday.

After the region's worst drought in 35 years, people across Southern Africa are pulling their children out of school, eating vital seed stocks, and selling their possessions.

Some 13.8 million people need international aid, mainly because of rising needs in Madagascar - where hunger has reached emergency levels - Malawi and Zimbabwe, according to the latest U.N. figures.

"(Trying to) help the countries to break the cycle of drought-induced emergencies ... is really important but it is also very difficult," said Timo Pakkala of the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

http://news.trust.org/item/20161209162512-eoms4

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