{{Namibia, sub-Saharan Africa’s driest country, is suffering its worst drought in a generation, with more than 100,000 children at risk of malnutrition, the United Nations said on Thursday.}}<\/p>\n
President Hifkepunye Pohamba declared a national emergency in the sparsely populated southern African nation after the failure of crops in May, and earmarked $20 million of relief for the worst-hit households.<\/p>\n
Many farmers are now being forced to sell cattle for which there is no grazing, while cow-herds from Angola are reported to have crossed the border in search of food, fuelling tribal tensions as competition for scarce pastures intensifies.<\/p>\n
“The shortages of food and water are increasing the immediate threat of disease and malnutrition,” said Micaela Marques De Sousa, the Namibia representative of UNICEF, the U.N.’s children’s agency.<\/p>\n
“But anecdotal reports already indicate children are dropping out of school, a clear sign of stress and vulnerability in families.”<\/p>\n
Namibia, which won independence from neighboring South Africa in 1990, classifies as a middle-income country although a quarter of its 2 million people live in poverty.<\/p>\n
While agriculture accounts for 5 percent of the economy, a third of Namibians are dependent on some form of subsistence farming.<\/p>\n
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