An estimated 2.3 million people are affected by the ongoing drought in southern Angola’s Namibe, Huila, Bie and Cunene provinces, nearly half a million of whom are children under 5 years old.
The failure of this year’s rainy season in the first three months of the year decimated crops and livestock. In Cunene province alone, the number of people facing food insecurity more than tripled in the same time period, from almost 250,000 in January to more than 850,000 in March.
The water scarcity has also had a dangerous knock-on effect on children’s education.