In southern Africa, where drought has reached critical levels, more than 20 million people face starvation.
Zambia and Malawi have declared the drought a national disaster, and neighboring Zimbabwe, where some 2,7 million people are facing starvation, is close to making such a decision.
The drought affected a wide area from Botswana and Angola in the west to Mozambique and Madagascar in the east of southern Africa.
As Al Jazeera Balkans reports, the drought has fried the crops that tens of millions of people rely on to survive.
Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema said one million hectares of his country's 2,2 million staple maize crop had been destroyed.
Malawian President Lazarus Chakvera requested 200 million dollars in humanitarian aid.
With this year's disastrously poor harvest, millions of people in Zimbabwe, southern Malawi, Mozambique and Madagascar will not be able to feed themselves until next year.
The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) estimates that 20 million people will need food assistance in southern Africa in the first few months of this year.
A year ago, a large part of the region was hit by large tropical storms and strong floods.
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