A Look at the Drought Through Food Alternatives
For the past two years, crop failure in Africa has led to devastating food shortages; across the continent, nearly 50 million people now need emergency aid. Seven countries have declared a state of disaster, and Ethiopia is facing its worst drought in 50 years. Meanwhile, southern Africa is having one of its driest seasons in more than 35 years.
The immediate cause of the world’s biggest food crisis in many years has been El Niño, the natural phenomenon that occurs every few years, disrupting weather patterns across the world. What began in 2014 and continued through this year has led to record temperatures and widespread droughts followed by floods. The human fallout has been extreme malnutrition and disease.
But this food crisis cannot be attributed entirely to natural causes. Many African and western countries have encouraged farmers to grow and eat a single staple crop, maize, which is not suited to drought or to warmer temperatures.
Arsenie Coseac