STATEMENT BY THE RT HON PRIME MINISTER
DR B.SIBUSISO DLAMINI
ON THE NATIONAL DROUGHT SITUATION
DURING A MEETING OF THE PARLIAMENTARY PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE
IN PARLIAMENT
THURSDAY 18 NOVEMBER 2015
Honourable Members
It is my honour today to brief Honourable Members on the drought situation in the country. During the course of last year, the cyclical global climate phenomenon, known as El Nino, started to impact on weather conditions in Swaziland. Owing to the unusually severe characteristics of El Nino, on this occasion, a prolonged drought has developed, to a serious extent in the Lubombo and Shiselweni regions.
In fact, the entire country is affected by the exceptionally hot and dry conditions caused by El Nino, though the worst-hit regions are Lubombo and Shiselweni. In Lubombo, the most severely affected areas are Dvokodvweni, Siphofaneni, Sithobela, Mpholonjeni and Hlane, while in Shiselweni the worst areas are Sigwe, Somtongo, Matsanjeni and Hosea.
Less severe, but nevertheless experiencing challenging circumstances, are Manzini and Hhohho regions. In Manzini, Mafutseni and Mkhiweni are affected, and in Hhohho this applies to a similar degree to Mhlangatane and Mandlangempisi.
Over the past few months a number of national assessments have been carried out. The latest annual Rapid Assessment was finalised in March 2015 revealing that rangelands were quickly deteriorating and water levels in earth dams were lower than normal. Supported by the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) and the World Food Programme (WFP), Government carried out a Crop and Food Security Assessment. The report for this was issued in July 2015, confirming the need to strengthen our response tools and processes at times of drought, focusing on crop yields and the condition of livestock, dams and support for small-scale farmers. A further important exercise, which takes the assessment beyond crops and livestock to include water, health and sanitation issues, is the annual vulnerability analysis and assessment by the Vulnerability Assessment Committee (VAC) which identifies community vulnerabilities and coping skills. The VAC report for 2015 was finalised at the end of August.
I thought it essential that Honourable Members should be first informed of the established, systematic processes that are in place to be able to predict, and deal better, with such natural disasters when they arise.
Since those assessments were undertaken, the situation has deteriorated and has reached more serious proportions, not only for the Lubombo and Shiselweni regions where we have already seen the tragic effect on cattle but also, albeit to a lesser degree, in the rest of the country.
What is particularly important at this stage is to inform Honourable Members, and simultaneously the Nation, exactly what Government has been doing and what, as weather predictions continue to remain discouraging for the next three months, Government is planning to do in order to deal effectively with the situation.
The initial phase of the relief programme included the distribution of haybales to farmers - 30,000 delivered to date - and the transportation of water - 183,000 litres delivered to date - all to the affected areas. The selling of cattle from those areas, which was regrettable but unavoidable, has been given assistance by Government. Where river water has gone below ground level, sand has been removed.
That assistance was in response to assessments which reported what was evident at the time they were conducted. Indeed, at that time, only Shiselweni Region was showing signs of serious water shortage. However, the persisting heat wave and lack of rain has now extended that state of affairs to other areas of the country. There is a serious lack of potable water for the majority of people in the Lubombo and Shiselweni regions. In addition to the obvious implications of that, there is now a threat of a disease outbreak. Rivers and reservoirs across the country, including the water supplies for the major cities, have reached critically low levels. Almost 10% of the population is food-insecure and, owing to the continuing adverse weather conditions, this figure will reach 25% by March of next year when the impact on this year's crop will be extensively felt. More than 20,000 cattle have died in recent months.
To take account of the impact of the continuing drought, and therefore deteriorating conditions for people and livestock, a new action plan has been drawn up, and is being implemented. That programme includes the following measures:
1. Delivery of maize, beans and cooking oil to critically affected households; distribution has begun in phases.
2. Continued delivery of hay to strategic locations.
3. Continued transportation of water to affected areas for both domestic and livestock use.
4. Continued provision of equipment to remove river sand where necessary
5. Government issue of a rationing schedule to limit non- domestic use of water.
6.Advisory services to include reduction in stock numbers and alternative protein sources.
The amount of resources required, and logistics involved, in meeting the target of ensuring that no individual is without food and water to a life-threatening degree, represent a substantial challenge for Government. But it is the responsibility of Government to ensure that the challenge is faced with the fullest commitment that is physically possible.
Regarding available financial resources, we are currently utilising the E45 million allocated to the relief programme. It is envisaged that this will cater for food supplies to around 70,000 of our people for the next two months. Assessments of the situation are proceeding on a continuous basis and, in the meantime, there will be a re-examination of the National Budget in order to identify potential re-allocations out of existing budgeted items, where necessary, to provide sufficient resources.
Government has, nevertheless, commenced the process of alerting our development partners of the need for a close inter-action with Government agencies, and of the possible need for additional funding. In the event that the continuing assessments reveal an insufficient rainfall in the coming weeks, and inadequate resources to meet our relief programmme, that will be the time to declare a national emergency and formally request financial and other assistance from development partners.
With regard to coordination of the relief programme, Government has in place a Ministerial Committee, chaired by the Honourable Deputy Prime Minister, and at official level, we have Principal Secretaries and senior civil servants working on the programme, under the supervision of the Secretary to Cabinet, assisted by the Principal Secretary in the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, the latter being in charge at operational level.
Extending the multi-agency partnership to the involvement of community leaders and, especially, members of Parliament will enhance Government's ability to deal with what is developing into a worsening disaster. I trust that I can rely on Honourable Portfolio Committee members to provide the appropriate degree of motivation and encouragement to their colleagues.
I would like to take the opportunity to express our deep gratitude to Their Majesties, especially Her Majesty iNdlovukazi, for their involvement in the rescue operations. I wish to also thank the private sector, non-government organisations (NGOs) and our development partners, especially World Vision, World Food Programme and the Sicojeni Foundation for the assistance they have given.
Thank you.