In 2001–3 in many countries in Southern Africa national grain stocks had been run down and grain imports were slow to arrive, so that localised harvest shortfalls quickly resulted in three- and four-fold increases in food prices which, for the large number of vulnerable people in the region, spelled crisis. In the end, the donor and government response but equally importantly the response of the commercial sector and people’s own ‘coping’ strategies meant that large-scale famine-related deaths were avoided in 2002 and 2003 but unacceptable levels of chronic food insecurity remain.
Poverty and health
Achieving Food Security in Southern Africa
Economic pathways for Malawi's rural households
The recent food crisis has drawn attention to the fact that Malawi's poverty is deep-rooted and structural. Provision of temporary humanitarian relief and sustained safety net provision may alleviate the symptoms of chronic poverty but such interventions are not adequate as ends in themselves: they will not prevent similar crises occurring in the future, or develop the kind of resilience that households and communities need to be able to cope with crises.
Chronic Poverty Report 2004-2005
The Chronic Poverty Research Center's latest report examines what chronic poverty is and why it matters, who the chronically poor are, where they live, what causes poverty to be persistent and what should be done. A section of regional perspectives looks at the experience of chronic poverty in sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, transitional countries and China. The report argues that the chronically poor need targeted support, social assistance and social protection.
Extreme Poverty Spreading In Sub-Saharan Africa, says UN
Sub-Saharan Africa is the only region in the world where the proportion of people living in extreme poverty has continued to grow for 20 years, Reuters reports. In its annual Industrial Development Report released on Tuesday, the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) described the region as "the last frontier in the fight against abject poverty" and said the international community and the countries concerned needed to step up efforts to promote economic growth there. The rate of absolute poverty - people living on one dollar a day or less - in Sub-Saharan Africa is nearing 50 percent.
Southern African households burdened by an increasing number of AIDS orphans
By 2010 more than one in five children in Botswana, Lesotho, Swaziland and Zimbabwe will be orphaned by AIDS, a joint UN and US report warned. "Children on the Brink 2004" is the fourth edition of this biennial report, based on surveys conducted by the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), the UNAIDS and the US Agency for International Development (USAID). Alarmingly, the studies found that 20 percent of households with children in Southern Africa were taking care of one or more AIDS orphans.
* Children on the Brink report
http://www.unicef.org/publications/index_22212.html
Community Assessment of Food Security and the Social Situation in Zimbabwe
This report is the third of a broader monitoring of food security and social welfare at community level by the Civic Monitoring Programme. Monthly monitoring will be complemented by quarterly monitoring of specific areas of social welfare.
Poverty and well being in Mozambique
This report from the International Food Policy Research Institute has very focused objectives. It seeks to present the methodology and results of the poverty analysis of the 2002-03 IAF as well as comparisons with the 1996-97 survey results. The results point to a substantially improved poverty picture relative to 1996-97. The national poverty headcount, defined as the share of the population living in poverty, declines to 54 percent, a 15 percentage point decline from the levels registered in 1996-97. Poverty reductions are more rapid in rural than in urban zones, narrowing considerably the differences in poverty between the two zones, though poverty levels remain higher in rural compared with urban zones.
SADC heads of state and government summit on agriculture and food security
The Summit of Heads of State and Government of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) on Agriculture and Food Security was held in Dar es Salaam, United Republic of Tanzania on 15 May 2004, and was chaired by His Excellency, Benjamin W. Mkapa, President of the United Republic of Tanzania. The Summit was held under the theme: Enhancing Agriculture and Food Security for Poverty Reduction in the SADC Region.
In his official opening statement, President Benjamin Mkapa of Tanzania, the Chairperson of SADC underlined the need for the region to continue to fight together for economic liberation of Southern Africa, especially in finding a lasting solution to the pressing questions of food security and sustainable poverty reduction.
Further details: /newsletter/id/30512
** Food security and nutrition
Abstract of paper presented at the Equinet conference, Durban, 8-9 June 2004, by Mickey Chopra, David Sanders, School of Public Health University of Western Cape
The lack of household food security, and the subsequent poor nutrition, continues to blight the lives of millions of people in Southern Africa. Adequate food and nutrition is a basic right. The deprivation of this right has immense consequences for addressing inequities across the region. Poor nutritional status stunts educational development as well as increasing the risk of acquiring, and the severity of, infectious diseases (including HIV/AIDS). The lack of household food security has led to increased vulnerability, especially of women, to diseases such as HIV.
Further details: /newsletter/id/30453
Food systems and security: helping the poor to cope
Food security can be defined as ‘having enough physical, social and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food’. Threats include the ability of people to deal with declining farm productivity or the loss of assets before or after harvest. Increasingly, the traditional rural focus of food security is shifting due to rapid urbanisation and growing urban slums. Approximately 800 million people in the developing world are undernourished and suffering from chronic hunger.