‘Crippling’ drought in Zambia threatens hunger for millions, says minister

Children fetch water using a wheelbarrow in Lilanda township in Lusaka. The rains failed in February and there is little prospect of saving the maize crop. Photograph: Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi/AP

Severe drought in Zambia is threatening hunger for millions of people, cutting off electricity for long periods and destroying the country’s social fabric and economy, the environment minister has warned, in a harbinger of what is in store for the region as the climate crisis worsens.

Collins Nzovu said the “crippling drought” his country was experiencing hammered home the message that developing countries were facing catastrophe from the climate crisis, even as richer countries failed to muster financial help for the most afflicted.