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The effects of this El Niño on the global environment are expected to outlast the storms it’s produced this winter. With everything from wildlife populations to drought conditions fluctuating with the massive weather event it should be no surprise that El Niño’s extreme conditions are impacting people all over the world. And according to a United Nations briefing earlier this week the domino effect has led to one million children in Southern and Eastern Africa suffering from malnutrition. That number alone is almost dwarfed by the statistics of other devastating impacts on the region.
“The El Niño weather phenomenon will wane, but the cost to children – many who were already living hand-to-mouth – will be felt for years to come,” said Leila Gharagozloo-Pakkala, UNICEF Regional Director for Eastern and Southern Africa.
The torrential storms recognized through parts of the Pacific during an El Niño winter are contrasted by serious drought in others. The record heat in these parts of Africa has had its largest impact on people already living in poverty. The UN report goes on to point out that while millions of children there are already at risk of water shortages, disease and hunger, El Niño has exacerbated that and many other problems. In Ethiopia alone it’s expected that 18 million people will need food assistance by the end of the year, which nearly doubles the 10 million people in need there now. A third of that number will be children. Resource shortages like this are forcing families to do things like skip meals, putting those children at even greater risk.
Other notable and even shocking statistics outlined by the UNICEF report on the effects of El Niño on the children and people of Africa included:
-In Lesotho, one quarter of the population are affected. This aggravates grave circumstances for a country in which 34% of children are orphans, 57% of people live below the poverty line, and almost one in four adults live with HIV/Aids.
-In Malawi, cases of severe acute malnutrition have just jumped by 100% in just two months, from December 2015 to January 2016. They are facing the worst food crisis in nine years, with more than 15 per cent of the population (2.8 million) at risk of hunger;
The UN Office for Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) estimated that it will take affected communities approximately two years to recover from El-Nino exacerbated drought, if agricultural conditions improve in the latter half of this year.
