Drought hits Angola's already struggling farms

Terra Daily via AFP: A drought is threatening Angola's already modest food production, in a setback for efforts to revive once-vibrant farmlands abandoned during decades of war.

The dry season that normally lasts only about three weeks in December has stretched to three months in parts of the southern African country where most regions are used to abundant rainfall almost year-round.

The government has promised to help farmers, mostly smallholders producing for their own survival, but most of that aid has yet to materialise.

"Production has collapsed throughout the central and southern regions," said Belarmino Jelembi, national coordinator of the Association for Rural and Environmental Development. That means a loss of revenue, but also "a threat of famine for families", he said...