Consecutive years of drought, flooding and economic decay have left a record 45 million people in southern Africa facing severe food shortages, aid agencies have said.

The annual Alltech Global Feed Survey, released on Jan. 27, estimates that international feed tonnage decreased by 1.07% to 1.126 billion tonnes of feed produced in 2019, due largely to African swine fever (ASF) and the decline of pig feed in the Asia-Pacific region.

 The hum of millions of locusts on the move is broken by the screams of farmers and the clanging of pots and pans. But their noise-making does little to stop the voracious insects from feasting on their crops in this rural community.

Climate change no longer seems just a future threat. In 2019, major fires in Australia, Russia and California burned over 13.5 million hectares of land – an area four times greater than the size of Belgium.

Kenyan food production and grazing land is under threat from a huge desert locust invasion.

The Nile – the world’s longest river – runs through 11 countries in Africa and has a basin that covers about 3 million sq kms, nearly 10% of the continent’s landmass.