Eswatini

Drought conditions negatively affect the ability of people in Swaziland to meet their daily food and water needs.

Key Developments

USAID’s Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance (USAID/OFDA) is responding to disasters in Eswatini, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mozambique, and Zimbabwe.

In mid-October 2017, USAID/OFDA staff conducted a monitoring trip to observe USAID/OFDA-supported agriculture, nutrition, and water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) activities in Eswatini. During the visit, USAID/OFDA staff observed that many households have limited access to safe drinking water and water for household use, as some populations continue to rely on unsafe or untested water sources due to drought conditions.

USAID/OFDA staff reported that food security in Eswatini had improved slightly as of October 2017, though many households had not fully recovered from the El-Niño-related drought. The 2017 harvest in Swaziland was notably larger than the previous two years, and hospitals and community health workers reported low levels of severe acute malnutrition and global acute malnutrition throughout the country. USAID/OFDA staff also reported, however, that most farmers interviewed were depleting food stocks and anticipated relying on wild plants and remittances during the upcoming lean season.

In response to acute humanitarian needs, USAID/OFDA provided more than $1.7 million to the UN Children’s Fund and World Vision during FY 2017 to support agriculture, nutrition, and WASH interventions that aimed to benefit up to 175,000 people in Eswatini.

USAID's Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance (USAID/OFDA)  is responding to a regional drought in Southern Africa. Please visit our webpage for additional information.

Background

Eswatini experiences erratic rainfall, recurrent droughts, and soil degradation, which can adversely impact food security. In addition to responding to urgent humanitarian needs, USAID/OFDA supports interventions to build the capacity of people in Eswatini to withstand disasters. For example, USAID/OFDA has supported programs to help mitigate the impacts of climate shocks by improving access to water and promoting conservation agriculture methods and holistic grazing land management.