Namibia is, along with most of southern Africa, experiencing severe drought, caused by erratic rainfall in 2015, coupled with the strongest El Niño in the last 35 years. The country is now having its worst crop performance in 80 years, and 25 per cent of Namibia’s population is affected.
In the region of Kavango, in northern Namibia, people are experiencing failed crops and no harvest. This region also suffered from heavy flooding in 2014 and the soil did not recover before the current drought. Currently over 550,000 people in Namibia are affected by the drought.
The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) has launched an Emergency Appeal of 954,827 Swiss francs to support the Namibia Red Cross Society in meeting the food security needs of people affected by the drought. The appeal remains underfunded at only 9 per cent.
The Namibia Red Cross has a soup kitchen in the Kavango region, which serves 300 beneficiaries with one meal a day. Volunteers for the Red Cross are concerned the soup kitchen may close in the coming months due to lack of funding.
TIMECODE:
00:00: CU - Beans cooking in big casserole
00:11: WS – Beans cooking in big casserole
00:26: MS – Volunteers cooking (two women)
00:46: MS – Volunteers (one man two women) cooking
01:12: WS - Volunteers preparing soup kitchen
01:36: MS – Children eating
02:18: MS – volunteers giving food to children
02:34: MS – People standing in line getting food
02:46: MS – Two women eating
03:07: MS - Volunteer preparing plates
03:24: CU – woman with food- cards around her neck
03:32: CU – Person holding food card
03:42: Ends