At least 37% of the population in Namibia has access to enough food, while 33% are worried about their next meal, 25% are experiencing a food crisis, and 5% are in an emergency situation, the Food Security Information Network (FSIN) has said.
According to the Global Report on Food Crises 2023 published by FSIN in support of the Global Network against Food Crises, a collaborative effort among 16 partners to achieve a joint consensus-based assessment of acute food insecurity in GRFC countries.
The report states that “eleven of the 13 countries in Central and Southern Africa were classified as major food crises with Eswatini and Namibia, having over 20% of the national population in IPC Phase 3 or above (stressed or facing food crisis).”
The report however reveals that levels of acute food insecurity are also expected to decline significantly in Namibia, “with the projected number of people in IPC Phase 3 or above decreasing by 48% to 390,000 in January–March 2023.”
FSIN highlights that economic shocks were the main driver of acute food insecurity in Eswatini, Lesotho, Namibia and Zimbabwe.
“In these countries, the severe deterioration in household purchasing power amid increasing macroeconomic difficulties, compounded by the effects of the war in Ukraine, was the main driver of high levels of acute food insecurity for about 4.42 million people.”
Meanwhile in Central and Southern Africa, up to 44.24 million people, or 21% of the analysed population in 11 countries are projected to face high levels of acute food insecurity in 2023.
“Economic challenges included high levels of public debt, fiscal constraints and slow economic growth. A rise in interest rates in several countries to tackle headline and food inflation resulted in increased borrowing costs for governments, with potentially negative implications for public and private spending, further undermining income-earning opportunities,” the report reads.
The report states that the estimated number of people facing high levels of acute food insecurity in Central and Southern Africa increased by 67% between 2016 and 2021 from about 27.23 million to 45.6 million.
“The countries that experienced significant increases in magnitude during the 2016–2022 period were Angola, the Central African Republic and Namibia. Most countries saw increases in the number of analysed people, particularly in Madagascar and Namibia,” notes the report in terms of acute food insecurity since 2016.
This is reported to reflect multiple interconnected shocks, including disastrous weather events, protracted conflicts and worsening insecurity in three countries, and sharp increases in food prices.
“Severe drought events in southern parts of Angola and Madagascar, and in northern Namibia, resulted in localised poor crop and livestock production and a further deterioration of rural livelihoods for households severely affected by consecutive poor seasons.”
