Parts of Southern Africa suffered the driest February in decades that severely affected agriculture, and electricity generation and threatened to push up food prices that were already high.
As reported by TECHCENTRAL, in February 2024, large parts of Zambia, Botswana and Zimbabwe had the least rainfall — or close to it — since records began in 1981, according to data released by the University of California Santa Barbara’s Climate Hazards Centre.
The centre based its preliminary appraisal mainly on satellite-based rainfall estimates, with a final assessment due this week that will include more rainfall gauge observations.
The dry spell has been blamed on the El Niño weather phenomenon. Scientists have warned that extreme weather events are becoming increasingly frequent and severe because of climate change.
Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema recently declared the drought a national disaster.
An estimated 45% of planted areas in Zambia have been destroyed just as the staple maize crop should be maturing.
In Zimbabwe, some farmers have given up trying to grow and harvest their crops, allowing cattle to graze on what’s left.
Water flows in the Kariba Dam, which powers turbines that Zimbabwe and Zambia rely on for electricity, are less than what they were during the same period last year.
In Botswana, the Botswana Meteorological Services (BMS) said that the vast majority of the country was receiving significantly less rain than normal.
Farmers who receive government support planted less than half the area in the current season than they did in the previous one.
In Namibia, water levels in dams are already at dangerously low levels and the main reservoir supplying the capital, Windhoek, is only 11% full and dropping.
In a statement issued on 05 March, the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) said the current El Nino is one of the five strongest ever recorded and has contributed to drier and warmer conditions in parts of Southern Africa.
The WMO said temperatures were 4-5ºC higher than the February average.
