Hunger rises in Lesotho as severe drought hits Southern Africa: Video

Southern Africa is facing its worst drought in a century, driven by El Niño, which has led to widespread crop failures and severe food shortages.

Countries across the region, including Lesotho, Malawi, Namibia, Zambia, and Zimbabwe, have declared national disasters due to the crisis.

In Lesotho, the situation is especially critical. The government has declared a national disaster as around 700,000 people struggle with food insecurity out of about 200 million population due to poor crop yields.

Nearly 80% of Lesotho’s population depends on subsistence farming, which has been devastated by the drought, AFP reported.

To address the crisis, Lesotho’s government has introduced a temporary employment program, offering 500 loti ($27) for two weeks of work, such as road maintenance and cemetery cleaning.

The World Food Programme (WFP) anticipates that conditions will deteriorate further as the drought continues. The crisis has also led to increased theft of livestock and a push towards planting drought-resistant crops like sorghum.

In a parched village in Lesotho, a small mountain kingdom in southern Africa, farmer Daniel Phoofolo struggles to harvest withered crops from his parched land. Once able to both feed his family and sell surplus produce, Phoofolo’s fields are now barren due to an ongoing drought affecting southern Africa.