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A week in the lives - Friday 25 July 2003 by John Sparrow and Selma Bernardi in Silele, Swaziland Around 30 per cent of Swaziland’s population will need humanitarian aid this year, even more than in 2002 when famine threatened Southern Africa. Driven by the AIDS pandemic, the crisis extends beyond food and drought to breakdowns of community and the coping capacities of families. Red Cross health clinics and their home-based care services provide essential support for those most at risk. A week in the lives in the hard-hit south shows why the International Federation is appealing for US$10 million to strengthen a safety net for vulnerable people across the region. Friday 16.00pm A national food emergency endures in Swaziland, and a new water shortage threatens to worsen it. Failed harvests due to drought left a quarter of the population dependent on food aid and the present outlook is more of the same. Summer rains didn’t come, the autumn was dry and the forecast for winter isn’t promising. AIDS only deepens the problem. Fewer hands in the fields mean less food production. The disease’s impact may even exceed that of drought. Food distributions must continue, says Tihlobotakhe Zulu, food security officer and field coordinator of the Swaziland Red Cross, as he assesses the situation. Even those people who did manage to bring in a harvest will finish their food by October. Between then and the next harvest in April and May, the need will be acute. Tihlobotakhe is working on reducing vulnerability, making people more able to cope. Forty minutes from Silele, in the dry southeast corner of Shiselweni district, a Red Cross communal garden did produce a harvest, a cash crop of cotton and irrigated maize. Now the land is being ploughed for winter vegetables, cabbages, tomatoes, onions. The project isn’t big, just four hectares, benefiting 40 households, but as a pilot it is working and the community of Mahhashini wants to expand it. Nearby is a poultry project, where day-old chicks are brought to be nurtured and sold. Again it is small, 25 households, generating income and contributing to household welfare. It is a start. Supported by the Finnish Red Cross, these are two of a number of pioneering projects linked to home-based care efforts for which there is growing interest. Elsewhere an improved farming venture, and backyard garden and fish farming schemes are under way. Some are targeting AIDS-affected families and increasing nutritional knowledge in the process. The bottom line is helping people bounce back from adversity. Monday - Tuesday - Wednesday - Thursday - Friday Related links: Southern Africa crisis Swaziland: appeals, updates and reports Make a donation |
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