Southern Africa is extremely vulnerable to the increasing impacts of climate change, which will worsen food insecurity and water stress for the region’s growing population, but it is failing to factor in climate change in long-term investment and planning.

As a result, citizens in the regional grouping are exposed to extreme weather events, and this is halting development in the region.

“The devastating flooding in Malawi and Mozambique, for instance, highlighted how weather-related Weather refers to the state of the atmosphere with regard to temperature, cloudiness, rainfall, wind, and other meteorological conditions. (UKhazards undermine social, political and economic development,” agreed Saviour Kasukuwere, Minister of Environment, Water and Climate in Zimbabwe and the outgoing Chair of the African Ministerial Conference on Meteorology recently.

The Malawi and Mozambique floods left a grim legacy of death, destruction and devastation. The scale of the disaster wreaked havoc as crops were destroyed, villages obliterated, homes swept away and livestock killed.

Heavy rains in Mozambique also affected many people in Madagascar and Zimbabwe.

“Due to lack of investment in meteorology, countries across the Southern African Development Community are, therefore, counting the social, economic and environmental development costs of this year’s torrential rains,” said Kasukuwere.  Full Article

Source:  Southern Times