2.7 million Zimbabweans need food aid as El Nino compounds a drought crisis, UN food program says

By FARAI MUTSAKA
Associated Press

HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) — The U.N. World Food Program says it is working with Zimbabwe’s government and aid agencies to provide food to 2.7 million rural people in the country as the El Nino weather phenomenon contributes to a drought crisis in southern Africa. The WFP’s country director for Zimbabwe says food shortages have been caused by poor harvests in drought-ravaged areas, and El Nino is expected to compound that by causing below-average rainfall again this year. El Nino is a natural and recurring weather phenomenon that warms parts of the Pacific, affecting weather patterns around the world.