Southern African Drought Worst In 10 Yrs - Lesotho Crops Total Loss

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The worst drought in more than a decade is sweeping through southern Africa, destroying crops, driving up food prices, and leaving millions hungry, even as foreign assistance dries up, governments and humanitarian agencies say. Last week saw the first significant downpours since April, but the rain came too late to save the summer harvest, and forecasters predict more dry weather ahead. Aid workers expect near total crop failure in the tiny mountain kingdom of Lesotho, along with massive losses in Swaziland, southern Mozambique, and parts of Zimbabwe.

"The current drought could be disastrous for southern Africa," Richard Lee, regional spokesman for the World Food Program, said. "Parts of the region, which have now experienced two years of crisis, will have another year of massive shortages, if this continues."

The southern town of Mafeteng, once surrounded by some of Lesotho's most productive agricultural land, is now on the front line of the region's drought. Dams are empty, rivers have been reduced to a muddy trickle, and wells are drying up.

With the soil too dry to plant, vast areas have been left idle. The few maize crops that were put in have been stunted by the sun. Despairing of rain, some farmers are already allowing their skinny herds into their fields to eat the scorched crops. "Normally we have maize all over," district secretary Eliase Thekiso said as he surveyed a parched and rocky landscape. "But the soil is going and leaving us with stones."

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http://www.enn.com/news/2004-01-29/s_12587.asp