Experts issue warning over slow-moving 'catastrophe' threatening food and water systems: 'The worst I've ever seen'
A new report warns that drought is fueling a global hunger crisis, with more than 90 million people in Africa on the brink of starvation and key food supplies disrupted worldwide. Experts say this slow-moving disaster, worsened by a warming world, threatens water, food, and energy systems across continents.
What's happening?
The dire report issued by the National Drought Mitigation Center and the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification says that the world has experienced some of the largest and most destructive droughts ever recorded since 2023.
"Drought Hotspots Around the World 2023-2025" was produced with support from the International Drought Resilience Alliance. It outlines how droughts exacerbate poverty, hunger, energy insecurity, and the breakdown of ecosystems.
"Over 90 million people across Eastern and Southern Africa face acute hunger," according to a news release about the report. "Some areas have been enduring their worst ever recorded drought."
The report notes that drought-ravaged southern Africa saw a staggering 68 million people, or roughly one-sixth of its population, in need of food assistance in August 2024.
"This is not a dry spell," said Mark Svoboda, the founding director of the NDMC and co-author of the report, per The Guardian. "This is a slow-moving global catastrophe, the worst I've ever seen."
Why is this report on drought around the world important?
"Drought is a silent killer," said UNCCD Executive Secretary Ibrahim Thiaw in a summary of the report. "It creeps in, drains resources, and devastates lives in slow motion. Its scars run deep."
Per the news release, the report says that "women, children, the elderly, pastoralists, subsistence farmers, and people with chronic illness" are most vulnerable to the health risks raised by drought, which include "cholera outbreaks, acute malnutrition, dehydration, and exposure to polluted water."
"Drought is no longer a distant threat," added Thiaw. "It is here, escalating, and demands urgent global cooperation. When energy, food, and water all go at once, societies start to unravel. That's the new normal we need to be ready for."
Our overheating planet is supercharging many forms of extreme weather. The United States Geological Survey warns that our warming world is making droughts more frequent, longer, and more intense.
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What's being done about severe droughts?
The NDMC and UNCCD report recommends urgent investment in stronger early warning systems, nature-based solutions, resilient infrastructure, gender-responsive adaptation, and global cooperation as ways to mitigate the devastation caused by droughts. It cautions that drought disproportionately impacts people who have the fewest resources to deal with it.
Advances in technology provide hope for finding ways to help people hit hardest by drought. U.S. researchers have developed a solar-powered device that can produce clean drinking water from saltwater day and night, even after sunset. Rwandan farmers are increasingly relying on solar-powered irrigation for their small-scale farms, leading to better harvests and lower expenses across the drought-prone country.
Talking to friends and family members about climate issues and donating to organizations focused on our climate can help. Supporting pro-climate politicians who are fighting for the future of our planet is another way to make a difference.
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