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Namibia rushes to drill boreholes as worst drought in a century bites

Source(s): Thomson Reuters
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By Nyasha Ngaungwa, Mfuneko Toyana, and Nick Macfie

Namibia’s dam water levels have almost halved from already low levels as the worst drought in more than 100 years pushes the desert nation closer to famine.

[…]

On Thursday, the environment ministry told Reuters drought had caused a third of Namibia’s 2.5 million population to go hungry, and that hundreds of wild animals in conservation parks as well cattle on farms were dying.

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Minister of Environment Pohamba Shifeta said at a climate change conference in Madrid on Tuesday 700,000 Namibians were food insecure, and that the agricultural sector had contracted for the last half-decade, with rural households and small-scale farmers hardest hit.

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Namibia’s economy is set to shrink by 1.5% in 2019 after contracting 0.1% last year due largely to severe drought, the finance ministry said in October.

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Hazards Drought
Themes Food security and agriculture
Country and region Namibia
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