how have the rains been around the country?

Don't know about the rest of the country but here in NW Colorado we've got plenty of snow.

If you meen zim? I need a cannoe to reach the office! on 120% of normal

quote:

Originally posted by Ganyana:
If you meen zim? I need a cannoe to reach the office! on 120% of normal

So now it's going to be floods and British interference that are starving your country?

quote:

Originally posted by butchloc:
how have the rains been around the country?

Which one?

SA: Normal or a little over. Lush and green everywhere.
Mozambique: Summer rains started a little late (bad) but catching up, rain every day now (good).

Southern an western Free State: Far below average! Similar in many North Cape areas!

We had a good start to get grass into seed, but no it can be described as very dry.

In good hunting.

Andrew McLaren

Flooding kills 10 in Mozambique
Tue Jan 6, 2009 11:09am GMT MAPUTO, Jan 6 (Reuters) - Flooding has killed 10 people in Mozambique and heavy rain is still falling on the southern African country's central and southern regions, the state-run Noticias reported on Tuesday.

The newspaper said roads had been cut in the southern provinces of Gaza and Inhambane, and in central Manica province where 10 people have drowned.

Casirimo Abreu, deputy director of the Institute of National Disaster Management (INGC), told Reuters there was a risk of heavy flooding in central Mozambique following weeks of torrential rains that caused many rivers to burst their banks.

"The situation continues to worsen due to persistent downpours (and) we are worried in terms of logistics and want people in lower areas to leave now as a matter of prevention in the event of floods."

He said the INGC had received reports of deaths but was still investigating whether they were directly linked to flooding.

The Zambezi River in central Mozambique, which stretches 500 km (300 miles) from lake Cahora Bassa into the Indian ocean, is now above flood alert levels, swelled by rains in neighbouring Malawi and Zambia.

Tropical cyclone Jokwe swept across southern Africa with winds of up to 200 kph (125 mph) in early 2008, leading to three weeks of severe floods which devastated Mozambique. (Reporting by Charles Mangwiro, editing by Nick Vinocur)

Namibia: Good Rains Boost Pastures
Chrispin Inambao
5 January 2009


Windhoek — Good rains that prevailed in most of the country's 13 regions revived pastures. The generally catastrophic scenario of previous rainy seasons that saw many herds of cattle succumb to drought could thus be largely averted.

More positively, states the National Early Warning and Food Information System (NEWFIU) report issued in December 2008, no water shortages for livestock were reported.

Livestock conditions in the north central regions range between "fair" in most areas to good in the eastern part of the Oshikoto Region, namely Guinas, Eenghodi, Okankolo and around Omuthiya, and the southern parts of Oshana and Omusati due to good pasture.

No livestock deaths have been reported in these areas though a few cases of internal parasites in cattle, goats and in donkeys have been reported in Etayi, Onesi, and Ruacana constituencies in Omusati and Oshikango.

Oshikango Constituency in the Ohangwena Region reported cases of black quarter that debilitates and rapidly kills infected cattle, while cases of rabies in dogs were detected.

And more worryingly, a number of pigs died suddenly at Onandjaba Village in Omusati.

In the Kavango Region, the condition of livestock ranges between fair in settlements along the river and good for the rest of the region.

Agriculture extension officers and villagers alike are alarmed by the outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease.

It is suspected a wild buffalo herd that is roaming in that area might have spread the disease, NEWFIU stated in its report compiled after its staff undertook field visits. Pasture conditions in Kavango are generally good particularly in inland areas except at villages along the Kavango River where there is a high concentration of goats and cattle.

The periodic field report states that the eastern part of Caprivi is characterised by wild animals, more so an exploding elephant population.

These giant free-roaming pachyderms have caused unspecified damage to property.

In desperation, farmers confessed to having set on fire shrubs and grass with the intent to scare away these beasts that have trampled many villagers.

On crops, farmers in Caprivi started planting their river fields last September taking advantage of moist, fertile river fields on which maize germinated successfully.

There were widespread shortages of hybrid seed at the time of planting but subsistence farmers managed to plant using own traditional seed sourced from the previous harvest.

"At the time of the assessment, crop stages ranged between vegetative to flowering, which signifies good harvest prospects. But many farmers are very sceptical about a good harvest due to the prevalence of wild animals, particularly elephants that are reducing chances of good harvest of the crops planted alongside the river," NEWFIU stated.

The other obstacle that got in the way of farmers in the north-eastern region is the fact that the distribution of fertilisers mainly nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium was delayed because the price for these fertilisers had not yet been determined.

One of the major challenges facing the agricultural sector is the rising cost of production worldwide due to the high cost of agricultural inputs.

Government on the other hand fully comprehends this and has kick-started policies and programmes that are aimed at boosting food production particularly in communal areas. T

he Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Forestry has introduced subsidy services in the communal crop producing areas.

Among these programmes is a seed and fertiliser subsidy that allows farmers to buy seed and fertiliser (NPK) at a 50 percent subsidy but the scheme is limited to up to three hectares.

Under the ploughing services subsidy farmers have the privilege to enlist the services of private tractor owners who are paid a subsidy of N$150 per hectare up to three hectares.

Another State-funded motivation comes in the form of a N$100 weeding subsidy paid per hectare but also limited to a maximum of three hectares for each farmer. On the availability of seed, most farmers in Linyanti Constituency are gratified by the ongoing supply of seeds with the majority of them showing an interest to participate in the Government seed, fertiliser and ploughing services subsidy programme.


Some of the farmers that in 2007 participated in the Draft Animal Power Acceleration Programme (DAPAP) of the European Commission in collaboration with the Namibia Agronomic Board (NAB) appreciate the Government scheme.

Farmers at Omega III in Kongola Constituency are still waiting for free seed from the Government.

The farmers were promised free seed until such time they are able to retain their own seed or they are able to buy seed from the market.

Southern Africa: More Flooding On the Way
8 January 2009


Johannesburg — More rains are forecast for Southern Africa into next week, threatening countries already grappling with the impact of recent flooding.

Parts of Zimbabwe have been inundated with heavy rains since 26 December, and the authorities have warned of yet more flooding in the north of the country. That could affect efforts to stem a cholera outbreak that nationwide has now claimed 1,753 lives.

Rains have also pounded parts of Mozambique and Malawi over the past few weeks, killing at least one person, displacing thousands and drowning farm land.

William Msimanga, a senior meteorologist at the South African Weather Service, said more rain was headed for Angola, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Botswana, Mozambique, parts of Madagascar and central South Africa in the next few days. Lesotho and Swaziland would also experience scattered rains, he noted.

Further heavy rains in Zimbabwe could spell trouble for neighbouring Mozambique. One of its major rivers, the Pungue, which has been under flood alert since last month, originates in Zimbabwe. The Zambezi, the region's biggest river, also flows through Zimbabwe before entering Mozambique.

Mozambique - again

Last week, torrential rains hit Mozambique's Inhambane Province in the south, and the central provinces of Manica, Sofala and Zambezia, destroying houses, roads and bridges.

"In Inhambane the heavy rainfall resulted in flash floods that displaced people, destroyed houses and inundated farmland, but none of the country's main rivers have burst their banks yet to create serious flooding," Belarmino Manuel Chivambo, spokesman for the National Emergency Operations Centre, told IRIN.

But Chivambo was concerned with the growing potential risk to communities along the Pungue, which flows through central Mozambique.

Mozambique is flood-prone: in 2000 and 2001 over 800 people were killed and hundreds of thousands left homeless. Up to 300,000 people in river communities throughout central Mozambique were affected by flooding in early 2008, with 29 killed.

Every year in Malawi communities living along the floodplain of the Shire river - the country's largest - risk losing their crops and their homes, and 2009 has been no different. So far, 2,100 families have been affected after the Shire broke its banks due to heavy rains.

Rodney Simwaka, the commissioner for the southern district of Nsanje, said the river waters coupled with strong winds destroyed 46 houses in 12 villages, but no loss of life was reported.

"The floods have also washed away fields of millet, sorghum and maize," Simwaka said, adding, "There could be more trouble in the coming days as this is just the beginning."

The loss of crops in the south to flooding could aggravate existing food security concerns. The Malawi Vulnerability Assessment Committee estimated in October last year that at least 1.5 million people could face food shortages into 2009.

Disaster management

Flood-prone countries such as Mozambique and Malawi have tightened their disaster response in recent years.

Mozambique, the acknowledged regional leader in disaster management, has adopted a decentralised approach to speed up reaction times. Equally importantly, collaborating aid agencies and NGOs are trying to help communities survive the aftermath of flooding.


"This means after the floods are gone, the communities continue to sustain themselves on income-generating projects under our Disaster Risk Reduction and post-emergency programmes," Milton Machel, an information officer with the development agency Oxfam, told IRIN.

"Improvements in the form of the lower numbers of people being affected by flooding are beginning to show," he added.

[ This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations ]