Emmanuel Himunga walked through a dry field and picked up nearly white corn stalks.
The 61-year-old chieftain of Shakumbira, a predominantly agricultural town of about 7,000 people about 110 miles west of Zambia's capital Lusaka, has experienced drought before.
However, since 2010, it has been held once every three to four years instead of once every five years. And Himunga said she had never experienced a situation this bad before.
“Looking back at last year's rainy season, I have never seen anything like this in my life. All the crops we planted in these fields failed,” he said. “I lost everything.”
Southern Africa is experiencing its worst drought in at least 100 years, with 27 million people affected and 21 million children suffering from malnutrition, according to the World Food Program (WFP).
The unprecedented El Niño drought lasted almost two months starting in late January, at the height of the region's rainy season, and more than half of the harvest was lost in some countries.
Lesotho, Malawi, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe have declared national disasters, while parts of Angola and Mozambique are also severely affected.
The region's “off season”, when small-scale farmers must rely on food reserves to feed themselves until the next harvest, typically runs from October to April. But this year, it started in August, said WFP Southern Africa director Eric Pardison.
“We have several months ahead,” he said at a media conference in October. “It may also deepen the already high risk of chronic malnutrition.”
Pardison added: “If you look at the rainfall patterns and drought patterns in the region, you can't point to anything other than climate change.”
Average temperatures in Zambia have increased by 0.45 degrees Celsius over the past century, and the situation is expected to worsen.
A “hot day” in Zambia is a day with a maximum temperature of over 35 degrees Celsius, which is predicted to increase from 110 days in 2000 to 155 days by 2080. German government research.
Famine has already hit southern Africa this year. People in Mozambique's hard-hit rural areas rely on just one meal a day of wild root vegetables and fruit, said Antonella D'Aprile, WFP's representative in Mozambique.
Food donations from the Zambian government and WFP only account for a fifth of the $370 million (£285 million) needed to feed people across the region, Himoonga said.
“We can't afford three meals a day. I'm better off,” said the police chief, who is the father of a 13-year-old. People are starving here, but only surviving by the grace of God. ”
Drought is also separating families. Agnes Shikabala hasn't heard from her husband since August, when he left Shakumbila for Lusaka to look for work.
“I'm worried that my children will start getting sick because they don't have food. The barn is completely empty and I can't sell any animals to feed my children without my husband's permission.” said a 23-year-old woman who takes care of six children (three of her own and three of her husband's ex-children). marriage.
“My job is to buy agricultural products such as groundnuts and maize for resale in Lusaka. But here I am completely stuck. I have nothing to buy or sell.”
Shikabara said unmarried and married women sell sex to men working in nearby sugar plantations.
“I love my husband very much and I respect him even if he decides to leave us,” she said. “I'm very hopeful for rain next season. I pray to God to keep me from the temptation of sleeping with other men over a gallon of corn.”
