Angola

At this USAID-supported women's association, they learn to plant new crops, such as eggplant, beans, and kale.

USAID/Sonia Walia

Key Developments

Economic shocks and drought conditions—resulting in below-average agricultural production, extensive livestock losses, and inadequate access to safe drinking water—have contributed to heightened levels of acute food insecurity and malnutrition across central and southern Angola. More than 1.5 million people in southern Angola's Cunene, Huila, and Namibe provinces—nearly 60 percent of the provinces' population—will likely require emergency food assistance between October 2021 and March 2022, according to an Integrated Food Security Phase Classification analysis. The drought and resultant acute food insecurity conditions are also contributing to rising malnutrition, with acute malnutrition rates exceeding the World Health Organization's 15 percent emergency threshold in at least six districts in southwestern Angola as of August 2021, according to the UN Children's Fund. Moreover, approximately 114,000 children are likely to require treatment for wasting—the deadliest form of malnutrition—through February 2022.

Background

Angola regularly experiences drought, flooding, and food insecurity. A lack of access to safe drinking water and basic health care services contributes to increased morbidity and mortality rates in Angola. USAID's Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance's response strategy in Southern Africa includes investing in disaster risk reduction programs that build regional, national, and local level capacities and supporting the integration of ongoing disaster response capacity-building programs to eliminate gaps and strengthen response networks in the region.