Swaziland is facing a serious hunger problem and the kingdom’s ability to feed its population is getting worse.
The food crisis is so bad in Swaziland that it has the third worst record in the whole world when it comes to comparing how things were in 1990 to how they are today.
According to the World Hunger Index published yesterday (14 October 2008) by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) 22 percent of the population in Swaziland are undernourished; nearly 15 percent of children under five are underweight; and more than 16 percent of children born in Swaziland die before their fifth birthday.
The index measures global hunger by ranking countries on prevalence of child malnutrition, rates of child mortality, and the proportion of people who are calorie deficient.
To put Swaziland in context, the two countries with a worst record than Swaziland are the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and North Korea.
The news confirms what we already know about hunger in Swaziland. Last year about 65 percent of the one million people who live in Swaziland needed food aid from international donors and according to the United Nations Development Programme about four in ten people are moving from hunger towards starvation. About four in ten children are so malnourished that their growth is permanently stunted.
Although Swaziland has suffered drought over the past decade this is not the main reason for hunger. Other drought stricken nations, for example Malawi, have implemented policies to improve irrigation and have introduced new drought resistant crops. This year Malawi was one of the international donors of grain to Swaziland.
The hunger in Swaziland is a result of the betrayal by the kingdom’s leaders. This year about 10 million dollars (E70 million) was squandered on a 40th birthday party for King Mswati III.
Forbes magazine reported in August 2008 that the King had a wealth estimated at 200 million dollars (E1.4 billion). This was at a time when 70 percent of Swazis earn less than one dollar a day.
We have just had elections in Swaziland where most of the sitting MPs were not reelected. This rejection wasn’t because the Swazi people disliked the policies of the government. The government has no polices and in Swaziland political parties remain banned since 1973 so there is no coherent way of developing policies to solve the crisis. Instead under Swaziland’s ‘unique’ democracy voters can only choose from a list of individuals, turning the election into nothing more than a beauty contest.
MPs once elected have no real powers and all important decisions are made by the King. The Swaziland Senate is not elected with most members appointed by the King.
This lack of democracy leads to inertia in public life and Swaziland is simply left to drift. I doubt that there will be much of a response to this latest appalling report on hunger from the Swazi elite.
But let me sound a word of warning. Swaziland needs the support of the international community or people will starve. With King Mswati’s lavish lifestyle and the oppression of the population (look at the banning this week of a forum organized by civil society as an example) people abroad are asking why they should help Swaziland. With so many other better places for them to send their donor aid we should not be surprised if it does not come to Swaziland.
Mass starvation of the Swazi nation may yet be King Mswati’s legacy to his people.
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