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There’s a critical drought at present affecting various international locations in southern Africa. Some experiences say that is the worst drought in over 100 years. The issue is that these droughts have gotten too frequent and growing in severity, it seems. I learn an article this week from an area information group which reported that the U.N. World Meals Programme has confronted challenges in elevating $400 million for its southern Africa drought response. The company has collected simply one-fifth of what it wants to assist seven international locations within the area. That article additionally contained a really alarming statistic that ought to actually be giving regional leaders sleepless nights.
The article stated, “Southern Africa is experiencing its worst drought in decades, forcing Zambia, Malawi, and Zimbabwe to declare states of disaster. The drought resulted from the El Niño climate phenomenon, which can change world weather patterns, bring extreme seasonal temperatures, rainfall, or dry spells, and hurt crop yields.”
The rationale for this huge shortfall and why it should hold getting worse is that near 70% of the southern African inhabitants depends on rain-fed agriculture and had their harvests decimated by the shortage of ample rainfall. 70% is extremely excessive, particularly on this altering local weather atmosphere the place irregular rainfall patterns appear to be they’ll change into the brand new regular. In Malawi, for instance, solely about 4% of cultivated land is below irrigation. This isn’t sustainable.
This could actually be ringing alarm bells and packages needs to be formulated to sort out this meals insecurity and implementation, and expedited. A deep look into sustainable irrigation packages tied to the native hydrology ought to actually be a precedence. A serious barrier to that is after all the shortage of entry to electrical energy in most rural areas of the affected international locations, which might be required to energy all these irrigation schemes. Nonetheless, technological advances during the last decade have led to the value of photo voltaic panels and related steadiness of system to drop tremendously.
What all this implies is that there has by no means been a greater time to get good worth from distributed photo voltaic PV techniques. A variety of progress has been made in photo voltaic and stationary storage, with rising market shares in lots of international locations within the developed world. Shoppers now have entry to photo voltaic panels, batteries, and EVs at costs decrease than ever. Photo voltaic panel costs are so low now that we now hear experiences that it’s cheaper to purchase photo voltaic panels and use them to assemble fences in some locations in Europe than to make use of conventional fencing materials! A fence that additionally generates clear electrical energy — how cool is that? You realize what can be even cooler? A variety of distributed photo voltaic powering very important irrigation initiatives to assist improve meals safety!
There must be extra urgency from regional leaders round this matter. With the best prioritization of sources, these international locations may begin to make good inroads into fixing this subject even from native sources with out essentially having to look to exterior help from donor organizations. They may additionally associate with native non-public sector gamers and create an enabling atmosphere that can help non-public sector gamers in fixing this subject.
Excessive climate patterns leading to heavy flooding or critical droughts and warmth waves are being skilled extra incessantly in additional locations world wide, not simply in southern Africa, and it appears like these extremes may change into an actual long-term menace to livelihoods. There actually must be pressing motion from regional leaders in southern Africa on this dire scenario the place relying totally on rain-fed agriculture places the area in such a precarious meals safety scenario.
