USAID Announces $4.9 Million in Humanitarian Assistance for Drought-Affected Populations in Namibia

The United States, through USAID, is providing $4.9 million in additional humanitarian assistance to support drought-affected populations in Namibia.

El Niño-induced drought has contributed to deteriorating food security conditions across Namibia, driving negative impacts on crop and livestock production, climatic shocks, price shocks, economic decline, and unemployment. An estimated 1.4 million people, nearly 50 percent of the country's population, will likely face high levels of acute food insecurity and require urgent food assistance at the peak of the lean season, when food is scarcest, between July and September.

With this additional humanitarian assistance, USAID partners will provide life-saving food assistance and nutrition support to the most vulnerable Namibian children and their caregivers. The funding will support UNICEF to enhance nutrition services such as early detection and treatment of wasting, the most severe form of malnutrition, for nearly 24,500 women and children. Additionally, the funding will support the UN World Food Program to provide food and nutrition assistance to more than 56,600 vulnerable individuals - primarily children and pregnant and breastfeeding women from indigenous communities in the Ohangwena, Omaheke, Oshikoto, and Otjozondjupa regions, who are most impacted by food and nutrition insecurity.

As climate change increasingly triggers droughts, flooding, and inconsistent rainfall, contributing to food insecurity, the United States continues to support communities in Namibia and across Southern Africa by providing life-saving assistance to meet basic needs and build resilience. We call on other donors to join us in stepping up to support the most vulnerable.