THE maize that is a food staple for much of Southern Africa is now so expensive it has become a luxury many cannot afford, after the worst drought in three decades damaged crops from Ethiopia to SA.In Malawi, one of a dozen nations affected by the dry spell, Meleniya Mateyusays she has to forage for wild water-lily roots called nyika from streams and swamps to feed her two orphaned grandchildren. The small amount of grain she gets from an aid agency is barely enough for them to eat one meal a day."We are surviving on nyika," Ms Mateyu said in an interview at her village in the southern district of Chikwawa, about 50km south of the capital, Blantyre. "This year’s hunger is the worst I’ve seen in 10 years."El NinoThe drought — a symptom of the global El Nino weather pattern — is shrinking grain production across Southern and Eastern Africa and increasing the risk of hunger for some of the poorest populations in the world. Of the 34 countries that will require food aid this year, 27 ar...
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