Coronavirus Situation

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Not surprisingly, COVID-19 was detected in both Tanzania and Zambia in the middle of March. The last detailed figures for Tanzania, published on April 29th, reported 480 cases and 21 deaths (with a further 29 cases reported in early May in Zanzibar). Since these reports, there have been no further official figures. At the start of June, President Magufuli has declared Tanzania ‘coronavirus-free’, although in the middle of June he told Parliament there were 66 active coronavirus cases. Yet, there remains considerable concern about the adverse effects of the virus in Tanzania. In Zambia currently, there have been nearly 6000 confirmed cases with just over 150 deaths, with several spikes in July. The situation in Zambia, is comparable to other countries in Eastern and Central Africa of increasing cases, but relatively low numbers of deaths reported.

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Food Security Challenges

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The region has been hit by a series of natural disasters including droughts, severe flooding at the start of 2020 and the continual threat of locust invasion. The FAO reports and unprecedented Desert locust threat to food security and livelihoods in the Horn of Africa and the outbreak in East Africa has been described as the most serious in decades, already devastating crops in Kenya and Somalia. Second-generation spring swarms formed in north-west Kenya, Eastern Ethiopian and parts of Somalia, while breeding commenced in the Ethiopian highlands. In February, Tanzania detected swarms in the north close to Mount Kilimanjaro. A single swarm can contain up to 150 million locust per square kilometre of farmland and can consume enough food for 35,000 people a day. The swarms have placed even further pressure on the fragile agricultural communities in the region, coupled with restrictions on the movement of people and goods due to Covid 19. Food security and the potential for famine has significantly increased. The cost of staple foodstuffs, such as maize, which remains exceptionally high due to the poor harvest in 2019 and a weak currency in Tanzania, has been inflated further due to the pandemic leading to increasing production and transportation costs. Unfortunately, the Sisters have had another poor harvest this year placing even further pressure on their scarce resources and food supplies.