PRESS BRIEFING BY DEPUTY EMERGENCY RELIEF COORDINATOR

The number of people affected by the drought in southern Africa was growing more rapidly than anticipated, Carolyn McAskie, United Nations Deputy Relief Coordinator, told correspondents at a Headquarters press briefing this afternoon.

Briefing the journalists on her recent visit to the six most affected countries in that region -- Lesotho, Swaziland, Zambia, Malawi, Zimbabwe and Mozambique -- where she had accompanied James Morris, Executive Director of the World Food Programme (WFP) and Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for humanitarian needs in southern Africa, she said that assessment figures indicated that the number of affected people had grown from 12.8 million to 14.4 million people.

The crisis had also started to affect people in neighbouring countries like Namibia, Angola and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, she said.  The first of four sets of assessment figures, put together jointly by the governments of the six countries, had been released in the spring, resulting in the appeal of 18 July.

Ms. McAskie said the crisis was a combination of three factors.  Drought and erratic rainfall affected maize, the main food staple, as that crop required the right amount of rain at the right time.  Erratic or too much rainfall could be just as bad as not enough rain.  In addition, the affected countries also had serious problems in terms of their agricultural, health and educational capacities.  The third element was the HIV/AIDS crisis.  "Not until you go there do you realize how terribly devastating it is", she said.  The Special Envoy report, which would be ready in a few days, would, therefore, indicate that the current situation was "a crisis like none other".

She said the appeal had been for $611 million, of which $507 million was for food and $105 million for interventions in the health, nutrition and agriculture sectors.  Reasonable amounts of food aid could be provided, but not enough to fill the whole food gap.  Even with inputs from the private sector and governments in the region, in a best-case scenario, there would still be a food shortage of approximately 1 million metric tons.

Even if that gap were to be met, she said, there would still be a crisis, the HIV/AIDS epidemic, which mainly affected the young, productive generation.  In Zimbabwe, 35 per cent of girls aged 15 to 34 were infected, while in Swaziland the figures were rising annually and now stood at close to 37 per cent of the population.  One of the first defences against HIV/AIDS was good nutrition, she noted, adding that in a food crisis, that was the first defence to go.

Normally in a food crisis, the particularly vulnerable groups would be targeted, such as children under five, and lactating mothers, she said.  Funding would be provided for school meals to keep children in school.  Now, the sick also had to be targeted, not only those who were infected or ill with HIV/AIDS, but also those suffering from malaria, meningitis, cholera and polio.

Ms. McAskie said five out of the six drought-affected countries had agreed to accept genetically modified foods provided it was milled first.  They had accepted that the food was fit for human consumption but did not want the grains to take root in their soil.  The WFP policy was that any donor must certify that the food was fit for consumption in their own country.  It must also meet the "codex alimentaries", the United Nations/WFP standards.  Alternatives to genetically modified organisms (GMOs), such as wheat and rice, were being sought, Ms. McAskie added.

She said that apart from food and medical care requirements, the agricultural inputs were also needed to help people plant for the next crop.  The planting season started in October for a March harvest.  It was quite certain that there would be an El Niño effect in the region, with heavy rains, which would keep up the pressure on the donors.  It was essential to increase the rate of money coming, especially for the non-food aspects, she added.

In answer to a correspondent's question, Ms. McAskie said 37 per cent of the appeal for the food assistance had been met, as well as 13 per cent for the non-food items.  The 37 per cent of food requirements sounded low, but there were assurances of almost double that amount to come, although not formal pledges.

Asked whether the affected countries were approaching the food crisis collectively or individually, she said that because the complex situation differed from country to country, the major response had to be at the country level.  However, the Southern African Development Community (SADC) had taken a very keen interest and was assisting the countries in a number of areas, including in writing legislation dealing with GMOs.  Under normal circumstances, the affected countries would have been expected to manage the situation, were it not for the AIDS crisis.  The epidemic was killing 3,000 a week in Zimbabwe, for instance, and governments were losing their cadres.

To a question about whether the affected countries were offered a choice of foods, she responded that the only available food was what the donors gave, 80 per cent of which was genetically modified.  The United States, which provided 80 per cent of the food aid, mixed genetically modified and non-modified food.

The Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator appealed to donors with a greater supply of non-modified food to assist with actual food or cash.  During the 1992 crisis, she recalled, food could be bought in the region, but now that the Zimbabwe "bread basket" had dried up as a source, that was no longer possible.  Half of the region's 14.4 million drought-affected people lived in Zimbabwe, she noted.

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