Drought and hunger stalk southern Africa

Zimbabwe. The country is facing a severe drought and more than half the population needs food aid. PHOTO | REUTERS

Consecutive years of drought, flooding and economic decay have left a record 45 million people in southern Africa facing severe food shortages, aid agencies have said.

Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe are already facing below average rainfall, while Malawi is yet to recover from a fall armyworm invasion that started in 2017.