1 Million People Affected by Drought in Angola

The United Nations’ Children’s Fund (Unicef) has said that the ongoing drought in Angola has affected more than one million people in the country, most of them children.

A report released by Unicef on Wednesday stated that approximately 1.4 million people, of which 756 000 of them are children, are suffering from the drought.

The drought has caused food scarcity in several areas of Angola, especially in the southern regions of the country, where it has caused acute malnutrition in thousands of people. The hardest hit areas include the southern provinces of Cunene, Namibe and Huila.

According to the report, the El Nino weather phenomenon, which hit sub-Saharan Africa over the past year, has caused an estimated 90% drop in food production in the country.

Besides the severe malnutrition, the drought has also increased the risk of disease in the country.

n contrast to the drought experienced in the south, recent heavy rains in the north have brought on the spread of waterborne diseases, such as Cholera.

The UN confirmed that there have been 18 confirmed deaths related to Cholera in recent months.