• Discussion paper
  • 16 January 2015

Southern Africa floods

Since December 2014, heavy rainfall has caused widespread flooding across a number of Southern African countries. The largest impact of the flooding has be

Since December 2014, heavy rainfall has caused widespread flooding across a number of Southern African countries. The largest impact of the flooding has been felt in Malawi and Mozambique where thousands of people have been affected. The floods have resulted in mass displacement in both countries and heavily impacted agriculture and key infrastructure.

In Malawi, latest reports estimate that 106,000 people have been displaced owing to the flooding and 49 people have lost their lives. A state of disaster was declared  in 15 of the affected districts on 13 January and the government has appealed for international assistance.

The number of people affected and displaced in Mozambique is currently not available but initial estimates indicate close to 10,000 families have been affected.

Rain is forecasted to continue over the coming weeks and this is likely to exacerbate the flooding situation in the region.

Read our briefing for a background of funding to both countries in the last five years.

Download the accompanying data in Excel.

Read ACAPS’ full analysis of the needs situation, provided in parallel to our analysis.

 

GHA AND THE START NETWORK

The GHA Programme is partnering with the START network to help to inform its funding allocation decisions. The START network is a consortium of British-based humanitarian INGOs, which has recently launched its own fund to help fill funding gaps and enable rapid response to under-reported crises where need is great.

When the START members issue a funding alert, we produce (within 12 hours) a rapid overview of the humanitarian funding picture – recent funding, an overview of appeals and funds, and analysis of donor trends. The analysis is targeted not only at the START network but also to a wider set of stakeholders engaged in these crises – including donors, humanitarian organisations, analysts, advocates and citizens.