From The Huffington Post

The worst drought in almost a decade has decimated agriculture in southern Africa, leaving 1 in 10 people in the region at risk of going hungry.

The drought contributed to massive crop failures, including in South Africa which ordinarily produces 40 percent of the region’s corn. The country had to import the crop earlier this year, after it faced the worst drought since 1992.

The regional drought crisis has raised fears of renewed chaos in Zimbabwe, just as it was beginning to emerge from years of economic turmoil. The World Food Program warned this week that 1.5 million Zimbabweans will face food shortages after the production of staple crops like corn was slashed by around 50 percent.

“What you will see is people buying less of everything else so that they can afford corn,” Zimbabwe-based economist John Robertson told Bloomberg News. “People will limit buying to corn and nothing else.”

Zimbabwean officials said over 20,000 people have fled drought-hit regions for more fertile areas, sparking conflict and hurting the region’s ecosystem. The government warns that rainfall in Zimbabwe could decline by between 5 and 20 percent by 2050.

Read more at The Huffington Post