In the Shire Valley, farmers are grappling with hunger worsened by drought across southern Ma l aw i and swelling outflows from Lake Malawi that flooded riverside fields.
The twin tragedy struck in February when early c rops we re mat u r ing, wiping out the hope for better harvests amid rising food prices in the aftermath of Cyclone Freddy which affected 2.2 million people across the Southern Region last year.
Group village head Mtondeza of Chikwawa Distr ict laments: “From endless cyclones to drought and flooding caused by rains, we haven’t seen, there’s no break for us. We need urgent help as children are wasting and stunting.
“The fields that provide some food in times of floods and drought are underwater.”
Such disasters have been worsened by population p r e s s u r e , e s p e c i a l l y farming and settling too close to water bodies.
Meanwhile, malnutrition is rising as crop harvests fall due to climate change and barren soils in shrinking crop fields.
The United Nat i o n s Children’s Fund (Unicef ) warns malnutrition cases are rising due to worsening hunger. In August, Unicef reported a 43 percent increase in children with severe wasting and an 82 percent rise in children with moderate wasting compared to the same month last year.
N e g o t i a t i o n s t o s t r e n g t h e n d r o u g h t resilience worldwide are expected to dominate the 16th Conference of Parties to the UN Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) under way in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, since Monday.
The hosts have pledged $ 1 5 0 mi l l i o n to t h e Riyadh Global Drought Resilience Partnership to address what Davi Tsoka of Chikwawa terms one of the deadliest disasters.
Last growing season, the 45-year- old farmer harvested one bag from a field that once produced 16.
“ I n 2 0 1 6 , f l o o d s destroyed my home and fields, forcing my family and I to relocate. Since then, eve r y year has brought either drought or floods. We’ve never had a normal harvest again,” he says.
The Worl d Drought Atlas and International D r o u g h t R e s i l i e n c e Observatory report that d rought , i n t e n s i f i e d by climate change and unsustainable land use, has surged by nearly 30 percent in frequency and intensity since 2000.
T h i s t h r e a t e n s a g r i c u l t u r e , w a t e r s e c u r i t y a n d t h e livelihoods of 1.8 billion people, with the poorest nations bearing the brunt. The count includes 5.7 million of Malawians in need of urgent food aid to aver t dehumanising hunger.
“ The wo r l d expec t s parties to adopt a bold decision that can help turn the tide on the most pervasive and the most disruptive environmental d i s a s t e r : d r o u g h t ,” says UNCCD executive secretary Ibrahim Thiaw.
In a video message, UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed said never before have so many people been affected by land degradation and drought.
S h e s a i d : “ F o r t y percent of fertile land is now degraded and the result s are di re : r ising i n e q u a l i t i e s , p e o p l e hungry, people displaced.
“ L i v e l i h o o d s a n d businesses threatened, environments destroyed, and the foundation of p e a c e , s t a b i l i t y a n d security rocked. On the basis of current trends, by 2050, three in four people will be affected by drought worldwide. But you are in Riyadh to turn the tide.”
Du r i n g t h e C o P 1 6 i n R i yadh, about 200 governments, including Malawi, are expected to negotiate commitments to enhance resilience at a l l leve l s, building on recommendations from the Intergovernment a l Wo r k i n g G r o u p o n Drought established at CoP15.
Me a nwh i l e , S a u d i Arabia has pledged to pull public and private finance to support 80 of the most vulnerable and drought-hit countries.
The host nation pledged $150 million to the initial $2.15 billion for the new p a r t n e r s h i p, w i t h $ 1 billion to come from from the Islamic Development Bank and another $1 b i l l i o n f rom the Opec Fund for Internat ional Development.
“The Riyadh Drought Resilience Partnership will serve as a global facilitator for drought resilience, promoting the shift from reactive relief response to proactive preparedness. We also seek to amplify global resources to save l i ves and l i v e l ihoods around the world,” said Saudi Arabia’s Deputy Minister of Environment, Water and Agr i c u l t u re Osama Faqeeha.
The partnership seeks to source voluntary financial contributions in aid of the least developed countries and lower middle-income nations. It also committed to unlocking access to a d d i t i o n a l f i n a n c i n g through concessional and commercial loans, equity participation, savings and insurance.
Af ter three decades o f d e l i b e r a t i o n s and s ix consecut ive year s o f i n t e rgove rnment a l working groups, demands are mounting for robust commitments to reduce drought as the planet increasingly gets warmer. “This is a lot of pressure, but we must seize this pivotal moment in Riyadh. Together, we can reverse the trends of land degradation and build a more resilient world to drought,” says Thiaw.
