SADC sounds alarm over looming region-wide hunger

The Southern African Development Community (SADC) has called for urgent and coordinated regional action to strengthen food security, climate resilience and agricultural systems. This comes amid growing threats posed by global supply chain disruptions, climate change and livestock diseases. SADC deputy executive secretary for regional integration Angèle N’Tumba made the call while addressing the joint meeting of SADC ministers responsible for agriculture, food security, fisheries and aquaculture at Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe, on Friday.

She warned that worsening climate shocks and geopolitical conflicts were placing millions of people at risk of hunger and economic hardship. N’tumba said disruptions in global supply chains and extreme weather patterns were threatening food and energy security across the region. She said the conflict in the Middle East had disrupted the movement of key agricultural inputs and petroleum products through the Strait of Hormuz, resulting in rising food and fuel prices and increasing pressure on regional economies.