Weather experts from southern Africa have forecast a mixed rainfall outlook across the region during the forthcoming 2024/25 farming season due to kick off in October.
The 29th Southern African Regional Climate Outlook Forum (SARCOF-29) that met in Harare on Thursday said the central part of mainland Southern African Development Community (SADC) is due to receive above-normal rainfall between October and March 2025 while the remainder of the region would have below-normal rains until December.
“In summary, increased probability of normal- to above-normal conditions is forecasted consistently across the October to March 2024/25 period for the central part of SADC region (Zambia, Botswana, Zimbabwe and central Mozambique) as well as small island states of Mauritius,” the forum said in a statement.
Areas expected to receive above-normal rainfall include Angola, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), most of Namibia, Zambia, Botswana, western fringes of Zimbabwe, north-eastern South Africa, southern Mozambique and Eswatini.
Above-normal rainfall is also forecast for parts of Madagascar and Mauritius during the forthcoming season.
The forum, however, warned that there is increased probability of normal- to below-normal conditions for most of the region during the period from January-March 2025 for the most of the region, except for Malawi, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Lesotho, Eswatini, Namibia, southern Angola, eastern DRC, and the bulk of South Africa, Mozambique and Zambia.
SADC is a 16-member bloc comprising Angola, Botswana, Comoros, DRC, Eswatini, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Seychelles, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
The region is currently in the throes of a devastating drought following poor rains in the 2023/24 farming.
This has forced the SADC Secretariat to make a US$5.5 billion humanitarian appeal in May to support more than 50 million people facing hunger.
JN/APA