Number of hungry Namibians doubles

An estimated 1.26 million Namibians – or 41% of the population - are predicted to reach a crisis and emergency hunger situation between the October 2024 to March 2025 lean season, a World Food Programme (WFP) report released this week revealed.This is nearly double the number of people predicted to be food insecure the previous year, when it stood at 695 000.Of those affected, WFP Namibia is able to support 274 000. WFP’s focus will be on pregnant and breastfeeding women, and children under the age of five residing in households involved in the indigenous special feeding programme. “In addition, WFP plans to assist children enrolled in early childhood development centres, who will benefit from a soup kitchen programme serving meals once daily, three times a week,” it said.“The country office is developing a plan to support the government by assisting beneficiaries with nutrition assistance via value and commodity vouchers,” WFP Namibia added.“WFP further plans to deliver nutrition-sensitive food assistance through four distribution cycles utilising a value voucher system to highly at-risk individuals within indigenous communities, specifically the San people, who are currently beneficiaries of the government&#039;s marginalised special feeding programme.”State of emergencyNamibia is staggering under a severe drought, leading to President Nangolo Mbumba declaring a state of emergency in May. A state of emergency was previously declared due to severe drought in 2013, 2016 and 2019.The drought has significantly impacted the economy, particularly agriculture, leading to reduced crop yields, massive livestock losses and increased food insecurity. In 2019, the drought resulted in nearly 100 000 livestock deaths and record-low agricultural production.Meanwhile, since the beginning of the year, 26 children have died from malnutrition in the Omaheke Region alone.A total of 300 children in the region have, to date, been reported as malnourished, while 263 have been hospitalised. According to governor Pijoo Nganate, nine of those children even had to be readmitted to hospital.Over the same period last year, 45 children under the age of five died in the region due to malnutrition. This despite the fact that Omaheke has more than 30 soup kitchens that provide food to children.Regional pictureWFP said close to 27 million people across seven southern African countries are food insecure and require immediate food assistance. These countries include Namibia, Angola, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia and Zimbabwe - at a time when the region is enduring an economic downturn, high food prices and disease outbreaks. The organisation requires N$6.5 billion to provide food and cash assistance to over 6.5 million people across southern Africa until March 2025, it added.- jemima@nmh-hub.com.na

Number of hungry Namibians doubles

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Namibian Sun 2025-04-03

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Number of hungry Namibians doubles

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Namibian Sun 2025-04-03

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