SADC: IPC Acute Food Insecurity Regional Snapshot as of February 22, 2022

Regional Overview

Millions of people continue to experience high levels of acute food insecurity in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region, exacerbated by conflict, drought, the COVID-19 pandemic and economic decline. Around 36 million people in ten countries are experiencing high levels of acute food insecurity (IPC Phase 3 or above), including Angola, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Eswatini, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Tanzania and Zambia.

As of February 22, 2022, Integrated Food Insecurity Phase Classification (IPC) analyses (conducted between June and November 2021) showed that, out of 167 million people analysed, 36 million people were classified in IPC Phase 3 or above. This means people can meet minimum food needs but only by depleting essential livelihood assets or through crisis or emergency coping strategies. The countries hosting the worst-affected populations, classified in Emergency (IPC Phase 4), include DRC, Madagascar and Namibia.

In DRC, out of the 105 million people analysed, nearly 26 million were driven into a food crisis by a combination of prolonged conflict, economic decline, high food prices and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Around 5.4 million of these are experiencing Emergency levels of acute food insecurity (IPC Phase 4).

Conflict in northern Mozambique continues to be a significant driver of acute food insecurity, with hundreds of thousands displaced in Cabo Delgado. Nearly 1.9 million people in Mozambique are experiencing high levels of acute food insecurity (IPC Phase 3 or above), including almost 40,000 people in Emergency (IPC Phase 4).

Despite ongoing interventions in Madagascar, high levels of acute food insecurity are projected to persist in Grand South and Grand South-East, with 1.64 million people projected to be in Crisis (IPC Phase 3) or Emergency (IPC Phase 4) through April 2022. The food crisis in Madagascar’s south was caused by prolonged drought, insecurity and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Severe drought also drove high levels of acute food insecurity in south-west Angola and northern Namibia. On the other hand, countries like Malawi, Zimbabwe and Mozambique benefitted from good rains and harvests, reducing seasonal food insecurity in October 2021 – March 2022.

High acute malnutrition is also prevalent in the SADC region, notably in Angola, DRC, Madagascar and northern Mozambique, where IPC Acute Malnutrition analyses were conducted. The IPC and country Technical Working Groups recommend scaling up and intensifying treatment and prevention activities as well as strengthening response capacity and resilience.

The IPC Acute Food Insecurity analyses, conducted by National Vulnerability Assessment Committees (NVAC) comprised of government, humanitarian and development partners, recommend the provision of immediate humanitarian assistance in areas where people are in Crisis or Emergency (IPC Phase 3 or 4) to reduce food deficits. They also recommend improving water and sanitation conditions, housing and COVID-19 mitigation measures, and strengthening household livelihoods.

Source: Integrated Food Security Phase Classification