Mali ECHO 2014 activitiesEmergency Response Coordination Centre (ERCC) – DG ECHO Daily Map | 29/01/2019

Southern Africa | Drought Situation

© European Union, 2019. Map produced by JRC. The boundaries and the names shown on this map do not imply official

endorsement or acceptance by the European Union.

POPULATION PER ADMINISTRATIVE DIVISION*Source: JRC GHSL

SOIL MOISTURE ANOMALY (SMA)2 (Dec 2018)Source: JRC GDO

*Regions (Namibia, Malawi), Provinces (Angola, Mozambique, South Africa,

Zambia, Zimbabwe), Divisions (Botswana). Not including Lesotho and Swaziland

administrative divisions.

5 – 10 Million

2 – 5 Million

1 – 2 Million

500 000 – 1 Million

10 – 12.9 Million

250 000 – 500 000

17 000 – 250 000

Very dry (> 2)

Dry (1 to 2)

Normal (-1 to +1)

Wet (-2 to -1)

Very Wet (< -2)

No data

M o z a m b i q u e

C h a n n e l

1 SPI indicator is used to monitor the occurrence of meteorological drought.The lower (i.e. more negative) the SPI, the more intense is the drought.2 SMA indicator provides an assessment of the top soil water content, whichis a direct measure of drought conditions, specifically the difficulty for plantsto extract water from the soil.

The southern African continent is highly vulnerable toextreme climatological events, due to the combinationof insufficient coping capacity, widespread povertyand strong seasonal rainfall patterns. The region isexperiencing a meteorological drought.

This region has a strong precipitation seasonality,with most of the annual rainfall falling betweenNovember and March. The meteorological droughtexperienced in the region could impact the next leanseason.

In most affected areas, sowing stage was delayed andfood security decreased for most low-income ruralhouseholds, which depend on rainfed crops, inparticular in Zambia, Zimbabwe, southernMozambique, southern Angola and locally in Namibia.Moreover, reservoir levels are generally decreasingacross most countries.

SITUATION OVERVIEWSource: JRC GDO

S O U T H W E S T

I N D I A N

O C E A NS O U T H

A T L A N T I C

O C E A N

MozambiqueChannel

MozambiqueChannel

SOUTH WEST

INDIAN

OCEAN

SOUTH WEST

INDIAN

OCEAN

SOUTH

ATLANTIC

OCEAN

SOUTH

ATLANTIC

OCEAN

STANDARDIZED

PRECIPITATION INDEX

(SPI)1 (Oct-Dec 2018) Source: JRC GDO

Disputed area

State boundary

Extremely dry (< -2)

Severely dry (-2 to -1.5)

Moderately dry (-1.5 to -1)

Near normal (-1 to +1)

Moderately wet (1 to 1.5)

Severely wet (1.5 to 2)

Extremely wet (> 2)

No data

Administrative division*boundary

Main water reservoir