A record 45 million people are at risk of a food crisis over the next six months in southern Africa, the BTA warned today. The reason for this is the severe drought that has hit part of South Africa, as well as the adverse effects of natural disasters such as the Idai cyclone that devastated Mozambique earlier this year.

"We've had the worst drought in 35 years in central and western areas during the growing season," said Margaret Malu, WFP's acting Regional Director for Southern Africa. "We must meet the pressing emergency food and nutrition needs of millions of people, but also invest in building the resilience of those threatened by ever more frequent and severe droughts, floods and storms."

The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the World Food Program and the International Agricultural Development Fund have all called for joint efforts to raise funds to address the effects of climate change in Africa. 

Southern Africa's temperatures are rising at twice the global average according to the International Panel on Climate Change. Six of the nine African countries that are expected to suffer the most from climate change in the coming years are located in the southern part of the continent: DR Congo, Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

"With the region so prone to shocks and afflicted by high rates of chronic hunger, inequality and structural poverty, climate change is an existential emergency which must be tackled with the utmost urgency", said Robson Mutandi, IFAD Director for the Southern Africa Hub. "Governments have the biggest role to play, but we must all step up because it affects each and every one of us."